Brother Antony Ferdinand Kilbourn FSC was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

De La Salle Brother french: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes , image = Signum Fidei.jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = , abbreviation = FSC , nickname = Lasallians , named_after = , formation ...

who was last assigned to the

De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines The De La Salle Brothers - Philippine District is part of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the largest congregation of Roman Catholic religious Brothers who are exclusively dedicated to education. The Institute was founded ...

and was Acting President of the De La Salle College in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

while

Brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

Lucian Athanasius Reinhart Brother Lucian Athanasius Reinhart, F.S.C. was an American De La Salle Brother who was last assigned to the De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines and was a President of De La Salle College in Manila. Early life He was born James Hyde Reinh ...

, F.S.C., was on leave.

Early life

Kilbourn was born on June 24, 1894, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, as George Henry Kilbourn. On March 19, 1909, he joined St. Joseph's Normal School in Pocantico Hills and received the

religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, ...

of the Brothers of the Christian Schools on April 24, 1910, at which time he was given the religious name Antony Ferdinand.

Assignment to the Philippines

At the age of 20, Kilbourn volunteered for

missionary work A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

and arrived in the Philippines in 1921, the youngest Brother in

. In 1924, he made his final vows and consecrated himself to the

Infant Jesus The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. The four canonical gospels, a ...

. During schoolyear 1934–1935, Kilbourn was named head of the College of Commerce. He also introduced the Palmer Method of

penmanship Penmanship is the technique of writing with the hand using a writing instrument. Today, this is most commonly done with a pen, or pencil, but throughout history has included many different implements. The various generic and formal histor ...

and was one of the organizers of the

Boy Scouts of the Philippines The Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) is the national scouting organization of the Philippines in the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The Scout movement was first introduced in the Philippines on 1910 during the American Occupat ...

, serving on its executive board with General

Carlos P. Romulo Carlos Peña Romulo Sr. (January 14, 1898 – December 15, 1985) was a Filipino diplomat, statesman, soldier, journalist and author. He was a reporter at the age of 16, a newspaper editor by 20, and a publisher at 32. He was a co-founder of t ...

, Secretary

Jorge B. Vargas Jorge Bartolomé Vargas y Celis (August 24, 1890 – February 22, 1980) was a Filipino lawyer, diplomat and youth advocate born in Bago, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He graduated valedictorian from Negros Occidental High School in 1909 and ...

and General

Vicente Lim Vicente Podico Lim (February 24, 1888 – December 31, 1944) was a Filipino brigadier general and World War II hero. Lim was the first Filipino graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point (Class of 1914). Prior to the establish ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Kilbourn was

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

by the Japanese, along with the other American Brothers and Religious. After the War, he was named Acting President of the college after Br. Lucian Athanasius was forced to return to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to rest. Kilbourn died in

on the evening of May 3, 1961.

Notes

References

Br. Antony Ferdinand FSCLa Salle Brothers in R.P.
Accessed September 9, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilbourn, Antony Ferdinand 1894 births 1961 deaths People from Brooklyn Roman Catholic religious brothers American Roman Catholic missionaries De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines Presidents of De La Salle University Presidents of universities and colleges in the Philippines Roman Catholic missionaries in the Philippines American expatriates in the Philippines Catholics from New York (state)