Allen T. Bonnell, 101, founder and president of Community College of Philadelphia.

THERE HE WAS, in the dust and noise of construction on that day in 1965 when a dream was fulfilled.

Skeptics said it couldn't be done, but there it was: The city's first and only public institution of higher learning.

Community College of Philadelphia was the dream of Allen T. Bonnell, who thought it important that higher education should be available to everyone, however strapped for cash or opportunity, and set about to get it done.

As carpenters' hammers banged away and the dust of construction choked the air on Sept. 23, 1965, Bonnell, longtime teacher and college administrator, personally welcomed the first class of 1,200 students to the two-year college in the old Snellenburg department store at 11th and Market streets.

"Dr. Bonnell gave the city and its residents a gift beyond price," said Josie DiGregorio, who served as executive assistant to all five of the college's presidents.

Allen T. Bonnell, who had been president emeritus of the college since 1993, died July 20. He was 101 and lived in White Horse Village, a retirement community in Newtown Square, and had formerly lived in Wallingford, Delaware County.

DiGregorio attended Bonnell's 100th birthday party in April 2012 and often spoke with him since then. "His body was failing, but his mind was still sharp as ever," she reported. "It remained so until the end."

Under Bonnell's leadership, Community College enrollment leaped to nearly 5,000 in just its first two years. Since then, it has served more than 630,000 people and is nationally recognized for its multifaceted approach to addressing the educational needs of academically disadvantaged students.

The steady expansion of enrollment required more space. In 1971, Bonnell secured the historic Philadelphia Mint building (built in 1901) at 17th and Spring Garden streets for its main campus. Since then, three regional centers have been established in the Northeast, Northwest and West Philadelphia.

When Bonnell retired in 1983 at age 72, the number of programs had grown from the initial five to 52. It now offers nearly 90 degree and certificate programs with an annual enrollment of nearly 40,000.

Community College of Philadelphia began with Bonnell's vision of the need to "democratize" higher education in the city by giving everyone, regardless of economic circumstance or academic deficiencies, a chance at getting it.

He led a research effort resulting in the creation of the Philadelphia Committee on Higher Educational Opportunities in 1957, and a proposal for a community college in 1962.

Doubters said the new school would never open on time, but it did. The board of trustees picked Bonnell, who had been senior administrator of Drexel Institute of Technology, now Drexel University, for 17 years, to head the college.

Bonnell was born and raised in Erie. He received his bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees from Oberlin College. He attended the University of Bonn in Germany, and received a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois in 1937.

He taught at the University of Illinois and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Bonnell served with the American Friends Service Committee in France and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.

He joined Drexel in 1948 as a vice president.

In the early 1950s, Bonnell joined a group of educators, under W. Laurence LePage, president of the Franklin Institute, which obtained the original charter for the Metropolitan Educational Radio and Television Corp. He was a member of the board of the corporation that became WHYY.

In his honor, Community College named one of its major buildings after him, and created the Bonnell Award, given in recognition of exemplary community service.

Bonnell was married to Dorothy Haworth, an author of books for young adults and a community activist in Delaware County. She died in 1999.

He is survived by two sons, Thomas H. and David W. Bonnell; a daughter, Ann Maiocco; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by another son, Daniel C. Bonnell.

Services: A memorial service will be planned for September.