Mr. Fava Remembered

Written by Justin Oei & Joe Meade

For thirty-four years, the halls of Oratory have been blessed with an indispensable person: Mr. Steven R. Fava, who passed from this world on July 28th. Mr. Fava was a caring man who loved educating. This is proven by his career – he taught at Regis and St. Peters before he came to Oratory. He then came here in 1981, which is a testament to his dedication to this school and what a great community Oratory was to Mr. Fava. The Class of 2019 was lucky enough to see Mr. Fava every day at homeroom. While these hallowed halls of Oratory Prep will never be the same again, we’d like to take some time to remember Mr. Fava, and all the work he dedicated to the students of this school.

We have spent this week collecting memories from students, faculty, and alumni of Oratory on their experiences in Mr. Fava’s class.

From Mrs. Crum, during a recent Religion 8 class: “The day after Mr. Fava died, I was looking off the porch of the vacation home in Vermont I was in and saw a stork/heron. I believe this was a sign from Mr. Fava that he was in heaven.” (Mr. Fava’s favorite bird was a stork that he constantly saw out of his back window)

From Will Smart ‘19: “When I gave him that fish last year, he was almost jumping for joy.” The fish was later named Steven, and resides currently in Mrs. Crum’s room (101).

NB: Since the new year started a new fish has been purchased and christened Fava. Steven continues to live in Mrs. Crum’s fishtank.

From Justin Oei ‘19: “I always looked forward to Latin class, knowing our class would discuss current events after the lesson was done.”

From Joseph Meade ‘19: ”I remember when Mr. Fava talked to the whole homeroom on a personal level and woke us up by either yelling at us or by telling an interesting story.He would wake almost half the class up when we were half asleep without a latte. He is a person who I will never ever forget. He taught me so much even if it was just 10-15 minutes in the morning.”

From Alex Rickard ‘19: “I remember when Mr. Fava found a bunch of detention slips in our homeroom folder one morning. He just shook his head, said he was very disappointed, and started handed them out just like tests.”

From Connor Reagan ‘17: “He was a very kind man.”

From Shawn Lynch ‘86: “Very fond memories of Mr. Fava…a great storyteller with a passion for teaching like no other.  He was captivating and brought you into the world of literature.”

Truly Mr. Fava left an impact on this school. Students in every class here at OP expressed similar sentiments, saying he was a great teacher and a kind man. During the funeral liturgy, Mrs. Candon, a former teacher, wrote in her eulogy that “a teacher affects eternity,” because “they cannot tell where their influence stops.” Mr. Fava taught OP students more than Latin, English, and (British) History: he taught how to live a good life.