A New School & Convent

In 1948, the first mention was made of a need for a new school.  The two buildings then serving as the school were a small frame building and the school building itself built in 1857.  The decision having been reached, Fr. Lehmann secured the permission of Archbishop Floersh on November 14, 1948.  A year later, to the very day, the first classes were held in the new building, thanks largely to the tireless efforts of Fr. Lehmann and the generosity of the parishioners.

 

Pledges began coming in on January 23 and by February 6, $27,000 was the amount pledged.  Then on July 10, the cornerstone was laid by the then Vicar General, Right Rev. Erle Willett, who had resided in the parish in his boyhood days.  The speaker on this occasion was the beloved former pastor, Fr. John Lyons.

 

The total debt contract and for the school and nuns’ home was set at $135,000.  By September, 1949, $17,000 of the $27,000 in pledges had been collected - a vital expression of confidence by the people of Our Lady’s.

 

           

Fr. Lehmann breaks ground on school 1949

 

 

 

Plans had called for demolishing the old buildings in late spring and readying the new building for classes in September.  The first part of the plans went ahead as scheduled; but due to a strike among construction workers, the first use of the new building was not possible until mid-November.  However, this did not mean an extra vacation for schoolchildren.  Each morning, they gathered on Rudd Avenue, and three city buses were waiting period to carry children to St. Patrick’s; a third went to St. Charles’s.

 

Then in November, as mentioned before, the new building was ready.  It had five classrooms: grades one and two were separate; the other six were combined.

The Archdiocesan paper, The Record, had this to say about the blessing of the new school:

 

The blessing of Our Lady’s school last Sunday by the Most Rev. Archbishop will be remembered for a long time by those who attended the ceremonies; for it took place on a day marked by its low temperature and the and usual quantity of snow on the ground.  The crowd was not small in spite of the weather.

 

Assisting the Archbishop were the Rev. Edward Reavy, pastor, Christ the King Church as deacon; Rev. John Lyons, pastor of Our Mother of Sorrows Church and former pastor of Our Lady, sub-deacon.  Master of ceremonies was the Right Rev. Monsignor Edward Van Bogaert.  The Rev. William P. O’Hare, pastor of St. Patrick Church, delivered the sermon.

 

Thirty-five priests and twenty-seven nuns attended the blessing.  Among the nuns were three former prisoners of Our Lady’s: Sr. Mary Columba Muench, R.S.M., Sr. Mary Jane Cahill, R.S.M. and Sr. Mary Damian Cahill, O.S.U.

 

On the following page is found an attendance chart for the years since the Centenary and a list of the sisters who taught since 1913.  During the centennial, the school’s enrollment was 192 students and the teachers were Sr. Mary Dolores (principal), Sr. Mary Raymond, Sr. Mary Damian, Sr. Mary Cosmas and Sr. Mary Donald.

 

And after the new school was open, the following January, another first in the long history of the parish occurred.  The sisters of mercy, who taught at Our Lady’s school, had always lived at St. Catherine’s Convent on East Broadway, next to the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy - a distance of at least eight miles each way every day to 35^th and Rudd.

 

Now, the building of a convent above the school changed all that.  On January 6, 1950, the following moved into the new facility: Sr. Mary Jane (superior), Sr. Mary Eulalia, Sr. Mary Pierre, Sr. Mary Gerard and Sr. Mary Concetta.  On January 11, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered for the first time in their new chapel.

 

 

The debt for a new educational building was soon retired.  Each year, new amounts are pledged, a record which can be a source of pride to all the parishioners.

 

Then in 1952, a new classroom was added in the cafeteria.  The school also acquired its first lay teacher, Miss Helen Winfield.  In 1955, another classroom was added.  By 1961, all eight grades were separate for the first time in the history of the school.  In the summer of 1964, two rooms were built in the cafeteria: another classroom and a library.

 

Teachers for the 125^th anniversary year are as follows (first through eighth grades): Sr. Mary Lioba, Sr. Mary Warren, Miss Mary Ann Cronen, Mrs. Judith Werst, Sr. Mary Genesius, Sr. Mary Timothea, Miss Helen Winfield, and Sr. Mary Gualbert.  As the parish began its 126^th year, the following teachers were announced: Sr. Mary Lioba, Miss Rosemary Maeser, Sr. Mary Roberta, Miss Mary Ann Cronen, Sr. Julia Marie, Mrs. Sue Heitkemper, Mr. Charles Countin, and Sr. Mary Gualbert.

 

Enrollment from 1939-64:

Year                         Boys                        Girls                        Total                       Year                         Boys                        Girls                            Total

1938-39                   107                          85                            192                          1951-52                   108                          103                                211

1939-40                   93                            93                            186                          1952-53                   124                          120                                244

1940-41                   94                            100                          194                          1953-54                   123                          131                                254

1941-42                   93                            108                          201                          1954-55                   131                          139                                270

1942-43                   92                            121                          213                          1955-56                   135                          140                                275

1943-44                   95                            129                          224                          1956-57                   125                          146                                271

1944-45                   87                            100                          187                          1957-58                   142                          154                                296

1945-46                   101                          100                          201                          1958-59                   151                          157                                308

1946-47                   102                          103                          205                          1959-60                   153                          151                                304

1947-48                   98                            94                            192                          1960-61                   164                          148                                312

1948-49                   115                          95                            220                          1961-62                   162                          147                                309

1949-50                   113                          88                            201                          1962-63                   160                          150                                310

1950-51                   106                          96                            202                          1963-64                   163                          147                                312

 

 

Our Teachers

The Sisters of Mercy have taught at Our Lady school since 1913.  The parish prayerfully remembers those who have passed to their eternal reward:

            Sr. Mary DeSales           Mother Margaret Mary   Mother Mary Rita           Sr. Mary Damian      Sr. Mary Raymond

            Sr. Mary Winfield           Sr. Mary Dorothy           Sr. Mary Francis             Sr. Mary Coletta

 

A special day during the 125^th anniversary year was held to honor the many years which members of this devoted community have spent at Our Lady’s.  The following were unable to attend this event, so they wish to mention them here for their contribution to Our Lady school:

            Sr. Mary Ambrose          Sr. Mary Anastasia         Sr. Mary Anacletus         Sr. Mary Berenice       Sr. Mary Celestine

            Sr. Mary Clarence          Sr. Mary Claude             Sr. Mary Cosmas            Sr. Mary Dolores         Sr. Mary Dolorita

            Sr. Mary Frederica         Sr. Mary John                Sr. Mary Michael            Sr. Mary Pierre           Sr. Mary Pius

            Sr. Mary Stephan           Sr. Mary Rose Angela     Sr. Mary Trinitas            Sr. Mary Xaveria

 

 

School Sports

Another of the noteworthy achievements which have occurred during the past twenty-five years in the history of Our Lady’s parish was the simultaneous inauguration of the school’s athletic program and the formation of the Men’s Club, May 22, 1950.

 

Both girls and boys and gauge in competitive sports.  From the first, they took to these extracurricular activities, “like ducks to water.”  Ever since this program started, competition and baseball, football, volleyball and softball has been strong.  All these activities have been sponsored by the Men’s Club.

 

Results have been encouraging.  In 1952, the grade school football team, playing in collaboration with St. Patrick’s School, reached the Toy Bowl finals, only to be nosed out of the championship by the eleven from Most Blessed Sacrament.  The very next year, the team won the sportsmanship trophy at Freedom Hall.  And also in 1958, the school’s volleyball team brought the parochial city championship back to 35^th and Rudd.

 

As of 1964, the school had three baseball teams, one for the sixth graders, one for the eighth graders and intermediates; two basketball teams, one for the sixth graders; the other for seventh and eighth graders; two football teams and the girls have both a softball and a volleyball team.

 

The Men’s Club

The Men’s Club was organized “to do everything possible to increase the spirit of fraternal charity and to promote recreation for members of the club and to cooperate with a pastor and all endeavors pertaining to the welfare of the parish.”  It raised funds for various parish activities by holding fish frys and bingos.  Funds were used to pay part of the salaries of the lay teachers and financed the school’s volleyball and softball teams.

 

Prior to 1961, Our Lady’s and St. Patrick’s schools shared football equipment expenses with the Men’s Club paying part of Our Lady’s.  In 1961, Fr. Lally decided that Our Lady’s school should have its own team.  It was also at this time that the club took up full responsibility for all the school’s athletics.

 

This additional expense led the Men’s Club to seek other means to raise money.  The 50-50 club was started in March, 1963.  Its purpose is to raffle off a sizable amount of money.  Half of the proceeds from the raffle will go to the winner; the other half goes to the athletic fund which provides all teams with uniforms and the best and most modern in playing equipment.  The 50-50 club has been a success from the start and its profits have not only taking care of the athletic fund, but also enabled the Men’s Club to provide transportation for teams to and from their games.  It has also helped the scout troop in this way.

 

The Men’s Club has interested itself and other useful work for the parish.  One of their more successful projects was to modernize the church basement in the summer of 1959.  They remove the old steam boilers and dug out the basement and laid a concrete floor.  They also installed acoustic tiles in the confessionals; removed and replaced church use for installing the new carpet and painted the interior of the sisters’ convent.

 

When first formed in 1950, the club had 30 members.  The first officers were: Joseph Bindner, Jr., president; Cyril J. O’Brien, VP; Andrew Patton, secretary and William Bibb, treasurer.

 

In 1964, there were 65 members.  That year’s officers were: Louis Musselman, president; Robert Morgan, VP; Eugene S. Murta, secretary; and Ellis L. Amos, treasurer.

 

               

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