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Busts of St. Ignatius Gifted to Loyola
Two busts of St. Ignatius have been donated to Loyola Academy by current parents Jen and Dave Fritzsche '88, whose son Charlie Fritzsche '22 is a freshman. Charlie’s great-grandmother Mary Imelda Murtaugh sculpted the busts of Loyola's namesake in the late 1960s for a Jesuit fundraiser. Many of them now reside in Jesuit high schools and colleges across the country.
“My parents were moving out of their home,” Jen explains. “This home was built by my grandparents in 1935, and then my parents bought it from them. In cleaning out the many boxes, we came across these two statues of St. Ignatius.”
Mary Imelda Murtaugh and her husband Lewis Murtaugh had a deep commitment to Jesuit, Catholic education. They were parents to Loyola alumni Lewis Charles Murtaugh, SJ, '54, Daniel Maher Murtaugh '59 and Michael Kannally Mutaugh '62. Grandson Patrick Fitzgerald Murtaugh '06 and great-grandson Charlie Fritzsche '22 round out a long tradition of Jesuit education in the Fritzsche-Murtaugh families.
“Put simply, Loyola was a true part of her soul and continued legacy,” says Jen.
The busts are a beautiful reminder of the Jesuit history that continues to inspire Loyola’s mission and work today. We are grateful for the generosity of the Murtaugh and Fritzsche families.
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