For more than 22 years, Most Rev. Donald W. Trautman served as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie and as Chairperson of the Gannon University Board of Trustees.

Today, Gannon University said thank you.

Gannon held a formal ceremony to rename its Catholic House, located on West Sixth Street, as the Bishop Donald W. Trautman House. The house is designed for Gannon students who want to be part of a special living and learning community that is focused on their holistic development in the Catholic faith. The home’s five pillars are prayer, community, service, intellectual life, and chastity.

Students living in Catholic House participate in weekly prayer, a community mass during the week, service projects, shared meals, and shared daily living. The house has its own chapel.

Gannon President Keith Taylor, Ph.D., said the University wanted to acknowledge Bishop Trautman’s many years of dedicated and distinguished service. “We cannot think of a more vibrant and lasting tribute to the life and work of Bishop Trautman than naming this house in his honor,” Dr. Taylor said. “During his more than two decades of service, Bishop Trautman has promoted the vision of our founder, Archbishop John Mark Gannon, and expended a tremendous amount of time and energy in promoting the Catholic tradition throughout the Diocese.”

Bishop Trautman, STD, SSL, now Bishop-Emeritus following his recent retirement, said he was very grateful for and humbled by the University’s gesture. The Diocese of Erie’s newly installed Bishop,Most Rev. Lawrence T. Persico, JCL, attended the ceremony and offered a blessing.

During the ceremony, Dr. Taylor also announced the creation of an endowed fund, the Bishop Donald W. Trautman House Endowed Fund, that will help “enrich the lives” of the students who choose to live there. The fund was established through the leadership of James F. Toohey, a member of Gannon’s class of 1956 and a Gannon Trustee. To date, more than $33,000 has been raised for the fund.

This article was originally published on Nov. 26, 2012 on www.gannon.edu.