President’s Council Profile: The Banana Bread Lady

Students returning to their residence halls after classes on February 8 took a detour past St. Joseph Commons to visit some old friends — and enjoy some final pre-Lenten treats! Barbara O’Flynn, affectionately known at Thomas Aquinas College as “the Banana Bread Lady,” spent hours in the Dumb Ox Café with her husband, Patrick, conversing with students and distributing baked goods — a ritual that has punctuated semesters on the California campus for almost six years.

Members of the College’s President’s Council, the O’Flynns began paying their semi-annual visits (with goodies) in 2017. As a younger man, Mr. O’Flynn had read St. John Henry Newman’s The Idea of a University with approval: “I said to myself, ‘That’s the proper form of education!’” When he learned that Newman’s writings had strongly influenced the College’s founding document, Mr. O’Flynn decided he needed to see Newman’s famous idea in action.

The O’Flynns got their wish. They visited several classes during that first visit and were delighted by the Discussion Method. “What I found most fascinating,” reflects Mr. O’Flynn, “is that often a student who hadn’t said a word during the back and forth would suddenly say something that tied everything together perfectly, abstracting the meat of an idea from all the different positions — and then not say another word the rest of class!”

But if it was the College’s reputation that first attracted them, the O’Flynns now return so regularly because of its students. “When we first came, they asked us, ‘Who are you here to visit?’” recalls Mrs. O’Flynn. “We told them, ‘You!’ We’re not their aunts and uncles, not their parents or teachers; we have no children to send here. Our idea is just to tell the students how important we feel it is for them to get this education.”

They also bring treats. “Up to this time, she’s been known as ‘the wife of the guy with the long white beard,’” laughs Mr. O’Flynn. “But she became ‘the Banana Bread Lady,’ and I became ‘the husband of the Banana Bread Lady!’” All Mrs. O’Flynn can do is smile. “It’s a title that makes my heart swell!”

It is also well earned. Mrs. O’Flynn bakes and freezes around 30 loaves of banana bread in anticipation of the couple’s fall visits. In the week before their most recent sojourn, she was merrily mired in batch after batch of brownies. The work is well worth it, however: No matter what she makes, there are never any leftovers.

The students, of course, look forward to more than just banana bread or brownies. “The O’Flynns’ visit is always a treat,” says Michaela Lessard (’23). “The fact that they have no ties to the College besides their love of our mission reminds us all how blessed we are to be here.” The steady stream of students to the Dumb Ox Café last week eloquently echoed that sentiment. “We truly love this place,” says Mrs. O’Flynn. For its part, the College looks forward to welcoming the Banana Bread Lady (and her husband) for many semesters to come.