STOTS community remembers Father Atty
It is with a profound sense of loss that the St. Tikhon’s Community marks the passing of its former Dean, the Archpriest Alexander Atty. Fr. Alexander received his rest in the Lord early this morning, the Sunday of the Holy Cross, March 23, 2014, finally receiving rest from his many-year struggle with cancer.
Fr. Alexander was Dean and Chief Operating Officer of St. Tikhon’s Seminary from the summer of 2010 to February of 2013. For several years before this he was a devoted member of the Board of Trustees and beloved benefactor of the institution.
In his 2 ½ all-too-short years as Dean, Fr. Alexander Atty would make a dramatic and indelible mark on the life of St. Tikhon’s. Under his direction many improvements were made to the physical property including: remodeling of the entire front of the the administration building, updating nearly every office space and classroom, and construction of a new dining hall. Also under his tenure, the school would enjoy advances in it’s networking and communications including a new phone system, upgrades to the website and student email communications system, the purchase of two new seminary vehicles, new heating systems for both the seminary building and for the monastery church.
He will be remembered not only for his strong emphasis on campus renewal but also for the love and care that he and his beloved wife, Matushka Olga, took to ensure a certain quality of life for the student body of St. Tikhon’s Seminary. During their time here, Fr. Alexander and Matushka Olga, dedicated much of their efforts to ensure the seminarians and their wives and families were included in every aspect of community life. They instituted a family lunch program where wives and children were invited every day to come and join the seminarians, faculty, administration, and staff to share together in a common meal with one another. Each of these accomplishments, and others not mentioned, were accomplished by Fr. Alexander in 2 ½ years while undergoing very aggressive cancer therapy that would have by itself ended lesser men.
He will be remembered by all as a dedicated churchman, a husband, a father, a friend, and a leader. He will be remembered by those of us in the Community of St. Tikhon’s as a Dean with an uncompromising love of the beautiful and a steadfast desire to share that with each of us.