Please Remember in Your Prayers Thomas Bohen

Please remember in your prayers Dr. Thomas Bohen, a longtime and widely respected member of the University of St. Thomas business administration faculty. He died Dec. 7 after a brief illness.

Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 13, at Lumen Christi Catholic Church, 2055 Bohland Ave., St. Paul. Visitation is from 4 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 12, at O’Halloran & Murphy Funeral Home, 575 Snelling Ave., St. Paul, and one hour before Mass at the church on Monday.

Bohen spent 15 years working in the retail industry before he made the decision to change careers and go into teaching. After earning his M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1958, he joined the St. Thomas business administration faculty.

When asked at the time if he ever regretted his decision to enter the teaching profession, he replied, “I’m happier about it every day.”

Bohen became chair of the department in 1970, a post he held for 10 years. During that time, he was instrumental in launching St. Thomas’ M.B.A. program. Over the course of his term, business administration undergraduates grew to nearly half the total student population.

Three years before his retirement, he was named professor of the year.  An Aquin article announcing his award highlighted his appreciation for the marriage of liberal arts and career-focused education: “Becoming an educated person is a lifelong process that only begins in college.”

Memorials are preferred to be sent to the Carmela and Thomas Bohen Scholarship Fund at the University of St. Thomas.