A Sacred Legacy

Tom Hilgers (left) and Michael Molloy. Photo courtesy of Kathy Dracup.

Michael Molloy and Tom Hilgers dedicated their lives to beauty, knowledge, and faith. Fellow students at St. John’s University in Minnesota and eventual life partners for almost 50 years before their passing in 2023, Molloy and Hilgers were world travelers with a particular focus: exploring their shared passion for the art, music, and practices of religions the world over. The rich legacy they leave behind is a testament to their shared life together, and their gifts for appreciating, supporting, and furthering sacred art and architecture.

Molloy grew up surrounded by paintings and photographs of churches and religious objects created and collected by his grandmother, who went to Paris when she was 19 to study painting. Her love of art was contagious, Molloy once wrote, as she had a “a thirst to drag her grandchildren to museums and churches. It was through the beauty of art that I discovered the beauty of religion. Early experiences like these also led me to travel internationally beginning when I was a teenager.”

Molloy went on to become a renowned scholar, receiving a grant to study at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s (UH’s) East West Center, which took him to Kyoto, Japan, to study under philosophy and Buddhist scholar Abe Masao and Varanasi, India, to work with Sobharani Basu of Banaras Hindu University. He practiced Zen meditation at Bushinji in Shikoku and later received a certificate from the Oomoto School of Traditional Japanese Arts in Kameoka, Japan, as well as his PhD from UH. He taught philosophy and world religions at Kapiʻolani Community College for two decades. Based on his extensive travel experiences, Molloy also wrote two acclaimed textbooks, to which Hilgers contributed stunning photographs, which are used on college campuses today: Experiencing the World's Religions (McGraw-Hill, eighth edition, 2020) and The Christian Experience (Bloomsbury, 2017).

Hilgers also earned his PhD from UH, where he became a professor of English and director of the Mānoa Writing Program. He led the highly innovative campus Writing Across the Curriculum+ program and authored Making Your Writing Program Work (Sage, 1992), one of the first books on writing-program administration for universities. He was also a talented musician and a lover of classical music.

Their commitment to honoring the world’s shared religious heritage extended beyond travel and scholarship to preservation and advancement. Molloy served on the Wakamiya Inari Shrine Preservation Committee, which succeeded in moving the shrine to its current location in the Waipahu Cultural Garden on Oʻahu, where it was renovated so that future generations can continue to experience it.

In accordance with their wishes after their passing, two endowments at the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation (HCF) were created, to carry their legacy forward into perpetuity: the Molloy-Hilgers Wakamiya Inari Shrine Fund, supporting Friends of Waipahu Cultural Garden Park for the preservation of the Wakamiya Inari Shrine, and the Hilgers-Molloy Fund for Music, supporting the creation of new musical works through grants to organizations that commission, record, and perform new works of sacred music from any religious tradition.

Reflecting on why these causes meant so much to her brother and his partner, Molloy’s twin sister Kathy Dracup says, “Michael and Tom shared an unshakeable faith in sacred beauty in all its forms—whether in music, art, ritual, or architecture. Their travel, work, and generosity were all guided by a belief that the divine could be found in the creative expressions of faith across cultures. Knowing that their passion will outlive them, continuing to support and preserve sacred beauty meant everything to them.”

Through their legacy, Molloy and Hilgers’ passion for sacred art will continue to enrich lives, inspire scholarship, and preserve religious heritage. It is a fitting tribute to how they lived—with curiosity, generosity, and an abiding love for the divine in all things.

Read more Stories of Impact