George J. Willmann  Fr. George J. Willmann, SJ (June 29, 1897 - September 14, 1977) was a Jesuit priest regarded as the "Father of the Knights of Columbus in the Philippines". Born in the United States he was granted Filipino citizenship due to his missionary work in the Philippines. George J. Willmann was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 29, 1897. His parents were William Godfrey Willmann and Julia Corcoran Willmann. George had two brothers, Edward and William Jr., and four sisters, Miriam, Dorothy, Ruth and Agnes. His sisters Ruth and Agnes became members of Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in their later lives. From 1902 to 1908, Willmann studied at the Our Lady of Good Counsel Grammar School in Brooklyn, from 1908 to 1913 and at the Boys High and Brooklyn Preparatory School. On August 15, 1915, Willmann entered the into Society of Jesus Seminary at Poughkeepsie, New York. He completed his Novitiate and Juniorate by 1922. Willmann came to the Philippines in 1922 as a seminarian to accomplish a teaching stint at the Ateneo de Manila and later returned to the United States in 1925 to continue his theological studies. On June 20, 1928, Willmann was ordained at the Woodstock College in Maryland by Archbishop Michael Joseph Curley. Willmann took Tertianship in Poughkeepsie. Willmann served as Director of New York Jesuit Seminary and Mission Bureau from 1930 to 1936. Willmann returned to the Philippines in November 1936 continue teaching at the Ateneo de Manila. He also served as Prefect of Discipline & Treasurer at the same education institution from 1936 to 1937  In 1937 he served as the Session Director of the First National Eucharistic Congress in Manila and on the same year became dean of Ateneo de Manila. In 1938, Willmann established the Catholic Youth Organization in the Philippines, a religious and recreational organization for the youth. He became the chaplain of the organization on its establishment until 1977. Willmann was also initiated into Order of Knights of Columbus June 30 of the same year. He was appointed Chaplain of Manila Council 1000 based in Intramuros, Manila, with Jose Galan y Blanco, his long-time associate at the Ateneo de Manila, as his proposer. Servicemen clubs were established under the guidance of the Army-Navy Morale Committee, which Willmann and the auxiliary bishop of Manila, Msgr. Rufino Santos, were members of in December 1941.