1909 – 1981 (October 1)

Joseph Ignatius Boyle, the son of Daniel Boyle and Agnes Reily, was born in Manayunk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 31, 1909. He attended Augustinian Academy, Staten Island, New York, and was received as a novice on September 9, 1928. He professed first vows on September 10, 1929, and solemn vows September 10, 1932. After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from Villanova College in 1933, he went on to receive a Master of Arts degree in Education from Catholic University in 1937. He pursued his theological training at Augustinian College, Washington, D.C., and was ordained to the priesthood at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception by Bishop John McNamara on June 9, 1936. He and his brother, Francis X. Boyle, O.S.A., chanted their first Solemn High Mass at the Church of the Holy Ghost, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

A gifted tenor in the seminary choir, Joseph was appointed student choir director both at Saint Mary's Hall, Villanova, and at Augustinian College. This leadership quality blossomed during his career at Villanova College, his first appointment first as lecturer in education in 1937, then as chaplain in 1938, and as registrar in 1943. Father Boyle impressed the president of the College, Father Edward Stanford, O.S.A., with his superior organizational abilities. His genial affability endeared him particularly to the professed students while teaching them education courses at Sea Isle, New Jersey. Successively dean of the Summer School and dean of the Graduate School, Father Boyle was instrumental in the reorganization of the College by instituting the four vice-presidencies, one of which he held as vice president for Academic Affairs.

In the Provincial Chapter of 1956, he was elected a definitor of the Province, and under the direction of the Provincial, Father Henry Greenlee, he established the Augustinian Educational Association, comprising twenty of the Augustinian schools and colleges across the United States. He served as the first executive director. He served also as president of the Catholic Educational Association of Pennsylvania in 1955, was a delegate from Pennsylvania to the White House Conference in 1956, and published a number of articles in his field. In acknowledgement of his contributions to the field of education, Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, conferred on him an honorary doctorate of Education in 1957. From 1959-1965 he taught at Saint Nicholas of Tolentine High School in the Bronx, and served as parochial assistant in 1965 and 1966. Afterward he was assigned to his home parish, Saint Nicholas of Tolentine in Atlantic City from 1966 to 1975. In 1975 Father Boyle retired in residence at Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery, where he remained until his death, after an extended illness, on October 1, 1981.

Father Joseph Ignatius Boyle is buried in Saint Denis Cemetery, Havertown, with his parents and his brother, Father Francis X. Boyle, O.S.A.