DETROIT -- I recall the anticipation as the buses rolled into the parking lot of Bishop Duffy High School. We unloaded and began our high school education. Most of us were apprehensive when we started, but four years later, we achieved what Mark Twain once described as "the calm look of confidence of a Christian with four aces."
How do you write about your own friends, your high school classmates? It's difficult without sounding indulgent and self-serving. And so many people and events must be omitted. But it's my assignment. I'll try. This weekend, a bunch of guys will gather and celebrate our time together as a class in a school that no longer exists. But we stubbornly hold to the faith, memories, lessons, values, friends, grudges, prejudices and the good and bad times we experienced four decades ago.
Members of the Class of 1965, my class, widely regarded as the greatest class in the distinguished history of Bishop Duffy High School, are in town to mark the 40th anniversary of our graduation. The women from Madonna High School, our friends and former neighbors, are our partners in the celebration.
Our parents sent us to Duffy because they wanted us to get "a good Catholic education." In those days, it was remarkably affordable. The fact that the religious men who taught us took the vow of poverty and were given paltry stipends and the lay teachers were paid a tad above the minimum wage helped keep tuition costs down.
Plus, parishes used to pay a large share of the tuition. Niagara Falls alone had 11 parish grade schools that fed the students and helped make Duffy work financially. Your parish identity was important and noted in yearbook graduation pictures. Now, only three Catholic grammar schools and one middle school remain in the city.
The Oblates of St. Francis deSales ran Duffy and we quickly learned that the Philadelphia-Wilmington area, where most of our teachers were from, was the source of all wisdom and civility. Our teachers were well educated, but couldn't pronounce simple words like "lenth" (length) and "strenth" (strength). Boys became "booyzz" when our principal, Fr. Birkenheuer, uttered it.
We learned the art of screaming from Mr. Dave McNulty, aka "Stump," who loved to bellow, "Freshman Two is not working," as his face reddened and the veins in his forehead bulged.
The late Fr. Pat Kelly, our sophomore biology teacher, taught us about osmosis, the process largely responsible for much of my Duffy education. We had many interesting and a few remarkable teachers. They had to be dedicated to put up with us.
Fr. Paul Francis was a clinical psychologist who offered brilliant insights into behavior and human sexuality. He provided the students in his marriage class with the best lexicon of sexual terms I've ever seen. When asked how a celibate priest could offer guidance on relationships, he used to say, "You don't have to make nine out of 10 foul shots to be a good basketball coach."
Fr. Ed Chrzanowski was so passionate about Shakespeare that even I was nudged to the works of this seminal Irish-Anglo writer and grew to appreciate the great Bard. Mr. Bill Christy convinced me American literature really does exist. Fr. Paul Gillespie introduced me to the "National Review" and I'm still a reader of the conservative journal.
Fr. Alexander Pocetto was a big Barry Goldwater fan and champion of conservative virtue. He was also brilliant and charismatic and the best extemporaneous public speaker I have ever heard. "Pooch," as we called him, was Duffy's vice principal and chief enforcer of good order and discipline. No one wanted to tangle with Fr. Bill Juergens, who didn't hesitate to whack a recalcitrant student across a classroom. But physical pain was fleeting. With Fr. Pocetto, his look alone could be frightening and lasting.
Duffy was always noted for great sports teams, and although smaller than most of the other Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Buffalo, produced an inordinate number of championships.
The Class of '65 had some fine athletes.
In football, Eddie Nowicki was outstanding and won a scholarship to Syracuse. Bobby Merino, Frank Colucci, John Blake and Walt Tusinski were also standouts on a team that, in our senior year, lost only one game.
In basketball, Mike Ormsby stood tall.
In baseball, Matt Mazza could throw heat and Billy Bradshaw, who is now the athletic director at Temple University, was a whiz in the infield. Gary Shepard was a sight to behold.
Howie Roycroft flashed the track team and Dave Passmore could hurl the discus like it was a Frisbee and was our shot-put star.
In academics, we had some pretty sharp guys. Tom Mroziak was as bright as they come. Years after our Duffy days, he helped me understand the municipal budget for Niagara Falls. Tom's an administrator at the State University of New York's Buffalo campus.
Walt Tusinski, Rick Gallagher, Mark Simpson and Greg Sliwa were outstanding students. They went on to careers in education, science and engineering. Erm Venuto, our student council president, got his good political genes from his dad, the late Ermino Venuto, who led the revival of the Democratic Party in Niagara County in the 1960s. Erm's a lumber industry executive.
Today, members of our class work in a wide range of professions and businesses. Bobby DiFrancesco is the principal at Niagara Catholic, the successor school of Duffy and Madonna. Jack Stepian is a guidance counselor there. Tom Bellonte, my brother-in-law, retired after more than 30 years at Barker High School. Steve LaRock serves as superintendent in that district. Frank Soda is still whipping kids into shape at Niagara Falls High School. Dr. Dave Passmore is on the faculty at Penn State University and had the good sense to marry my cousin, Alice Gallagher, Madonna Class of '65. Jimmy Mezhir is professor of criminal justice at Niagara County Community College.
If you need a physician, the Class of '65 refers you to Dr. Joe Bax and Dr. John Bosso. Legal problems? Go see Bobby Merino or Don Crowell. Need a loan? Call banker Bob McKnight. Need a new car? Call Terry Riordan. Problems with your pets? We have our own vet, Dr. Bill Gerber.
Need some spiritual guidance? Rich McCabe was a priest, a member of the Oblates for some time. Mike Edwards has been a priest for a long time. And Lynn Shumway was ordained two years ago and recently named pastor of St. John's Parish in LaSalle.
If you want to party, we can do it all in style. Como food (Frank Colucci). Beer (Pete Certo). "Whistle Pigs" (Pete Page). Great Polish music (Fred Bulinski). A good bar (any place Angelo Morreale runs).
We've had to let go of many of our classmates, whose memories we can still cherish. Larry Conti, John Szydlowski, Nello Capone, Jimmy O'Leary, Paul Questor, John Rosczypala, Jimmy Martinez, Mike Magno, Dick Kraft, Wayne Garrow, Matt Pietrzyk.
Mike Hudson, my editor at the paper, wasn't crazy about doing a column about a high school reunion. Hudson thinks high school is terribly overrated. Like the recently departed Peter Jennings, Hudson never finished high school and he thinks non-graduation marks exceptional journalists.
Hudson huffed that he didn't want all this space devoted to one class from a high school that no longer exists. But Bruce Battaglia, the publisher of the Niagara Falls Reporter, Bishop Duffy Class of 1965, thought otherwise.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | Aug. 16 2005 |