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Why did Rockne convert to Catholicism? Jim Lefebvre in his by Hickster
excellent, biography "Coach for a Nation: The Life and Times of Knute Rockne," explains some of the reasons on page 369:
"Rockne would follow his team into the little Catholic Church across from Grand Central Station when they went to New York to play Army. He would see his boys get up early on the morning of a game, steal from the hotel lobby and head for a church. Bonnie, who was converted before their marriage, exemplified her Catholic faith around their children."
"Neighbors and friends (edited to: 'my grandparents'), and their family, demonstrated the faith in action. All were undeniably influences on him. So too was his friendship with Father Vince Mooney, a priest at Notre Dame, who would eventually instruct Rockne in the Catholic faith and then baptized him on Friday, November 20, 1925 in the Old Log Chapel on campus."
My older brother ND '75 wrote,"In attendance were Knute, his wife Bonnie, (edited to: 'both my grandparents') and Reverend Vincent Mooney, C.S.C. As my Grandpa Tom would tell me, “It was on the evening before the Northwestern game when Rockne was baptized…” The record shows that Rockne received his First Communion the next day." I believe one of Rockne's sons also received First Communion that day. It appears that there were only 5 people at the baptism, including Knute Rockne.
For the first fourteen months I (brother ND '69) attended the University of Notre Dame starting in the fall of 1965, my grandfather Thomas (1886-1966) would tell me and my dorm mates stories of his relationship with Knute Rockne (1888-1931). Rockne was the iconic Notre Dame head football coach for thirteen seasons from 1918 to 1930.
Knute Rockne 1925
My grandparents family and Rocknes lived next door to each other on Saint Vincent Street, less than one mile from the school, from 1923 to 1929 – the Rocknes at street number 1006 and the Hickeys at 1004. Tom Hickey, a contractor, had built most of the homes on that block, including his home in 1917 the Rockne home in 1920. The four Rockne and eight grandparent children would often play croquet, football and baseball with one another in the open field behind the two homes. Rock, and occasionally some of his players, would come out and play football with all the kids.
It is not known when and how the men, who would become close friends, first met. My grandparents had attended all the Notre Dame home games since the 1900 season. Later, my grandfather would often accompany the team on road trips. When the their wives, Bonnie Skiles Rockne (1891-1956) and Kate (1884-1977), did not join them for away games, the two men often shared a sleeping compartment on the train.
Rockne was not a Roman Catholic when he enrolled at Notre Dame in 1910. Rockne decided to convert to Catholicism and join his wife and their four children in that religion fifteen years after he came to Notre Dame. He had graduated from the school in 1914, served as assistant football coach from 1914-1917. Rockne was the first non-Catholic Notre Dame hired as the football team’s head coach in 1918. That would not happen again until the school hired Ara Parseghian in 1964.
When Rockne decided to convert and be baptized into the Catholic Church, he asked my grandfather to be his sponsor, then the term for today's godfather. One of Bonnie’s relatives, Mary Bough from Cleveland, was to be the other sponsor; however, at the last minute Mary could not make it to the service because of an illness. My grandfather called his wife Kate to come to the Log Chapel to stand in as a proxy. Kate hurriedly put on her coat and drove to campus.