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Father Theodore Van Rossum was born at Ermmerich on October 14, 1846 and entered the Society of Jesus at Munster on October 8, 1863
In 1870 he taught at
Feldkirch after which he went to Ditton Hall, England, where he was ordained to the Priesthood in 1878. Tertianship followed at Lancashire, England, and in 1880 he began teaching at Canisius College.
His appointment as the Rector of Canisius College occurred on July 9, 1883, and he held this office until 1887 when he was appointed Prefect of Studies. On July 7, 1892 he was appointed Superior of the Buffalo Mission. he was apointed Rector and Master of Novices at St. Stanislaus Novitiate in Cleveland, Ohio, August 15, 1898. In 1911 he became Spiritual Father and in charge of retreatants there.
Father Van Rossum died at Cleveland, April 28, 1922, after seeing the retreat movement securely established in that Diocese.
Some interesting notes on his time as President of Canisius College: 1883, there were 267 students. 1884, last unit of the buildings, the chapel and the auditorium, built. 1887, there were 334 students. In this same year we learn "that an ordination and first mass of a Father took place in the chapel", though the name was not recorded.
Father Van Rossum was a proponent of the movement for 'closed' retreats for laymen. Thomas Holling (printer and former Mayor of Buffalo) was one of the most active members of this retreat movement.
Father Van Rossum organized groups of laymen in Buffalo for retreats at Saint Stanislaus Novitiate in Cleveland. It was these men who erected a statue to Saint Michael the Archangel in his memory at the entrance to the Novitiate.