Latz Family Honored as part of 2021 Family Weekend 

The Latz Family, the 2021 Benedictine College Family of the Year.

Benedictine College honored the descendants of Charles (Class of 1912) and Bernice Latz as the Benedictine College Family of the Year as part of this year’s Family Weekend celebration. The family was recognized on O’Malley Field at Wilcox Stadium during halftime of the home football game versus Culver-Stockton College on Saturday, October 2, 2021. During the halftime program, the college also honored the Sisters and Monks from the founding institutions of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery and St. Benedict’s Abbey.

The Latz family connection with the Benedictine community began with Charles. As a young man growing up in Kansas City at the turn of the 20th century, he formed a special relationship with the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey while on visits to Atchison. He attended St. Benedict’s College (now Benedictine College) from 1908 to 1912, so he would have been on campus to witness the construction of St. Benedict Hall, the first building on top of the bluff.

That early connection with the monks gave rise to four more generations of Latz family members attending the college. That’s 31 alumni and counting! Some of the children and grandchildren have been married by priests from the Abbey. Members of the family even established an endowed scholarship so more students could attend Benedictine College.

The Latz line includes Charles and Bernice, their three children, Charles Robert Latz ’45, William Latz ’49 and Virginia Latz Wilkerson ’55, and a host of grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Founded in 1858, Benedictine College is a Catholic, Benedictine, residential, liberal arts college located on the bluffs above the Missouri River in Atchison, Kansas. The school is proud to have been named in the Top 10 in the Midwest of America’s Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report, the best private college in Kansas by The Wall Street Journal, and one of the top Catholic colleges in the nation by First Things magazine and the Newman Guide. It prides itself on outstanding academics, extraordinary faith life, strong athletic programs, and an exceptional sense of community and belonging. It has a mission to educate men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.

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