A Parish Priest’s Life of Service and a Legacy Gift

Reverend Michael Troha, B.A. 1975, M.A. 1976, was a Basselin scholar at The Catholic University of America, who served as a parish priest in the Diocese of Cleveland from 1980 until his passing in January 2026.

In 2024, Father Troha pledged $45,000 as the lead gift to establish a second fund to help meet the immediate needs of the Basselin Scholars Program.

“His time at Catholic University formed him into the priest he was throughout his career and represented some of his favorite years,” said Lauren Pizzella, assistant director of leadership annual giving, Schools of Philosophy and Canon Law. “He was motivated to give to the Basselin Scholars Program because he would never have been able to go to Catholic University, or a university like it, if it were not for the Basselin scholarship.”

After completing his master of arts in philosophy at Catholic University, Father Troha was ordained to the priesthood in 1980 in the Diocese of Cleveland, where he would spend the majority of his service, along with stints as a staff member of the diocesan mission in El Salvador. According to his obituary, he served as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force for two tours of duty, first in Operation Desert Storm and then following the attacks of 9/11.

“Michael embodied the German concept of bodenständig – this combination of upright, decent, kind,” said George Heffernan, a former classmate of Father Troha in the Basselin Program. “He was philosophical but pious. He embodied the ideal of a life lived according to reason and faith.”

Decades later, what stands out to Heffernan, who went on to serve as a professor of philosophy at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass., is Father Troha’s decency and ability to balance his head and heart.

“He was very insightful as a philosopher, but never putting on airs, which is a widespread fault among philosophers,” Heffernan said. “If he didn’t know something, he would say it.”

Heffernan recalled Father Troha’s originality in thinking, noting that he selected an unusual thesis topic by writing on the Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico, who was known as the father of philosophy and rarely covered in the school’s curriculum.

Committed to charitable giving to Catholic University, as well as other causes, Father Troha gave away 25% of his salary on an annual basis. His gift to the Basselin Program’s scholarship fund helps meet the immediate needs of students, enabling men like him to access the education that helped prepare him for the priesthood and a life of service.

“Father Troha’s gift shows that you can make a really big impact even with modest means,” Pizzella said.