My Friend Robert: Rev. Arthur Bender, SJ, ’67 Reflects on the Life and Generosity of Robert Sharp ’67

Robert Sharp ’67 credited Regis for setting him on a path to Yale, Harvard, and a career in law.

When he passed away in 2023, he left Regis a substantial bequest — the largest gift to the Ready to Do campaign and the largest in school history outside of the Founding Family.

Rev. Arthur Bender, SJ, ’67 remembers his classmate and the impact Regis had on his life.

Robert and I both came from the same town. I lived at the southern end of Bayonne, and he lived at the northern end. I didn’t know him in our freshman year because homerooms, as we called them in those days, were done alphabetically. Back then, at the end of freshman year, you opted for either a Greek track or a science track, but there was a program for so- called “double majors” who were invited to take both. That’s how we got to know each other: As sophomores, we were both double majors.

Being from the same hometown and taking classes together, we got to know each other well. We worked it out so that if I got the bus at a particular time, I’d be able to meet up with him and continue our commutes together — the Bayonne bus to the PATH train, then the subway up from Fulton Street. At the end of the day, we’d hang around school for this, that, or the other thing, then go home together, too.

We’d eat lunch together in the Regis cafeteria, and on Friday afternoons, we’d go with a larger group of classmates to a luncheonette called Leo’s, where we’d celebrate the end of each week over ice cream sodas.

In our senior year, we got to take two final courses together: AP Latin and a class reading Plato — in English, not Greek, but what are you going to do?

Robert was brilliant and got excellent grades. He was also involved in a number of activities at Regis. I still remember his starring role in senior year in The School for Scandal.

Regis students have such close bonds with their classmates because it’s easy to lose contact with your neighborhood, especially if you have a long commute like we did. Robert and I became good friends, and then we stayed friends.

I entered the Jesuits after we graduated and he went off to Yale, and for those first two years, we didn’t see each other much. But once I finished the Novitiate, I was sent to Fordham to continue my education, and we’d meet when he was in town. Later, when I spent some time in Canada and he went off to law school at Harvard, we would communicate by mail. Eventually he began working for firms here in the city, and I returned to New York, as well.

Robert and I had very similar interests. In addition to both coming from Bayonne, where we attended Catholic grammar schools, we were both history majors, and we talked a lot about different things in history. We were also both lovers of classical music. Neither of us were into rock and roll, and we’d often go to see the New York Philharmonic and the opera. We just had a common experience, and over the years we’d frequently connect over lunch to catch up.

Robert was also very devoted to his faith. He would go to Mass every day when he was mobile — an indication that he had a real devotion to the Church. On Saturdays, I’d attend Mass with him at Holy Family Church on the East Side. We’d often go together to services on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. And after his mother died, I was honored to say a Mass in her memory each year on the anniversary of her passing.

He retired from the practice of law in the early 2000s, and when his health started to slow him up, I began to spend even more time with him. We would pray together, and I began helping him with everyday tasks: bringing him his mail, going to stores for him, helping with his taxes, and just checking in on him. That’s what you do with your friends.

During the summers, especially just before he died, I would see him basically every day. I’d go over to the nursing home or the hospital to see how he was doing, and I also took care of his spiritual needs, bringing him communion, hearing confessions, and doing anointings.

All his life, Robert talked frequently about how special Regis was to him, and he always appreciated what the school did for him. He liked to keep up with what was going on, reading the magazine and especially the “Prowlings” section in each issue. He was particularly interested in how things were changing at Regis, even if we both still liked to reminisce about what things were like when we were students. He was especially pleased that so many more support systems are in place today, helping students through their Regis journeys inside and outside of the classroom.

If not for Regis, I don’t think he would have gone to Yale, or to Harvard Law after that. I think his career path would’ve been different, too. And so he felt that giving a gift upon his passing was a way that he could make a significant contribution to Regis at the appropriate time.

I thought it was wonderful that he thought so highly of Regis that he would make this gift. He understood what so many of us alumni do: A Regis education forms you as a person and helps shape the direction of your life.

This article appears in the Fall 2025 issue of Regis Magazine.