George J. Willmann

Was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 29, 1897. His parents were William Godfrey Willmann and Julia CorcoranWillmann. 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.