Faith
and pride at Roman Catholic
By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T
There is a certain irony to the fact that the latest addition to Roman
Catholic High School, the school that refused to die, is a resurrected
and completely renovated former city morgue.
It is, nevertheless, fitting that this sparkling new facility, the McSherry
Annex on 13th Street near Vine Street, which was blessed and dedicated
by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph R. McFadden on Nov. 7, is named for a loyal
alumnus, who was one of the key players in the Roman renaissance.
Jim McSherry, class of 1940, died Aug. 31. He was a Rhawnhurst real-estate
broker who unstintingly gave his time, talent, and quite a bit of his
treasure, to the school he loved so much.
There were major donations from McSherry to support scholarships, for
renovations of the more than century-old Broad Street building —
which was erected under the will of Thomas Cahill— for the construction
of the Renaissance Hall addition in the 1990s, for the purchase and donation
of a nearby building for alumni offices, and for this new facility, which
honors his memory.
There were also the little things: If there was a fundraiser, McSherry
would purchase a table — not a ticket. Last year, he was so impressed
by Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” that he
paid for the entire senior class to see the film.
“We don’t even know how much money Jim gave over the years,”
said John Fruncillo, Roman’s development director. “It has
to be over a million.”
In the last week of his life, McSherry was visited by boys who were part
of ASIST (Alumni and Student Intergenerational Team) a program founded
by alumnus Ed Keenan specifically to visit ill and shut-in Roman grads.
Fruncillo and Keenan saw McSherry the day before he died. When they entered
the room, Fruncillo remembers, McSherry was saying the rosary. He was
delighted to see his visitors, and more than willing to talk about the
history of “Catholic High” — something he knew by heart.
That McSherry was praying the rosary the day before his death should be
no surprise. Maureen Macaluso, a niece who cut the ceremonial ribbon at
the dedication, observed: “Uncle Jim was born Nov. 1. That’s
All Saints Day. And that sums him up.”
When Roman opened in 1890, it was the first free Catholic high school
in the country. In the beginning, it drew students from throughout Philadelphia.
Gradually, as new schools opened, a territorial system was established,
and Roman was assigned mostly parishes in North Philadelphia. By the 1980s,
Catholics were moving away from that area, and Roman, in spite of strong
alumni support, was experiencing huge annual deficits.
By January 1984, enrollment had dropped to 550 from 1,000 a decade earlier,
and it was projected to continue to fall. Archdiocesan officials announced
that would be Roman’s last year.
Bishop McFadden well remembers the events that ensued.
He was a young priest, and secretary to Cardinal John Krol, when the decision
to close the school was announced. The Cardinal was away when the announcement
was made. The next day, Father McFadden informed him by telephone that
both his residence and the Archdiocesan Office Center were being picketed
by alumni and students.
The alumni leadership claimed that if they were permitted to obtain students
from anywhere they could bring the enrollment back up.
Father McFadden relayed that to the Cardinal and, when asked, gave his
opinion they should be allowed at least to try. Cardinal Krol agreed,
and told the alumni that Roman could stay open if they could obtain 250
new students for the following year — but they were strictly on
their own. No students would be assigned to the school by the Archdiocese.
No one, not even the alumni, knew whether it could be done. But they accepted
the challenge, and through a generous scholarship program, they surpassed
the goal.
Did Cardinal Krol believe they would be able to do it? It’s impossible
to say, but Bishop McFadden said the cardinal “never wanted to see
any school close.”
Later, under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, all of the diocesan high schools
were changed to the open enrollment model pioneered at Roman.
Today’s enrollment is once again hovering at the 1,000 mark. Roman
has had to expand its facilities to meet the needs of that number, in
an era when high school education demands much more than desks and a blackboard.
“The very fact that we continue to grow, and expand, and adapt to
the ever-changing needs of the future generations of Cahillites is a reflection
of the dedication and loyalty of the outstanding alumni and school leadership
over the years,” said Roman’s principal Robert O’Neill.
The new facility, as explained by student council president Louis Konrad,
houses English, theology, and sports medicine classes. It has a huge weight
room and training room.
“Our sports facilities are now by far the best in the Archdiocese,”
Konrad said. “Students couldn’t be any happier with this new
addition.”
It is beyond question that without vigorous alumni support in 1984 Roman
would have ceased to exist.
Michael Finnegan, the 50th in the long line of alumni presidents, observed:
“Dedicated men continue to perpetuate the ideals of Thomas E. Cahill.
The acquisition and restoration of the old city mortuary was a combined
effort of our loyal alumni, the Roman family and the dedicated hard work
of the alumni office. It’s fitting that it is dedicated to Jim McSherry.
He embodied the spirit of what the Alumni Association is all about. He
was indeed our greatest alumnus.”
McSherry joins a pantheon of figures who have left a lasting legacy for
the school community, according to Roman’s president, Father Joseph
W. Bongard, ’77.
But legacy isn’t just money, he said: “It is faith, pride,
commitment, excellence and loyalty.”
Senior Eric Banecker was one of the students who visited McSherry in his
last week.
“You can’t walk through the school without seeing his fingerprints.
Something he did, something he said, something he accomplished,”
Banecker said.
Will there ever be another like him? Banecker hopes so: “Someone
from my class, or the classes around now, will have to step up and be
the next Jim McSherry.”
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo parish and a freelance writer.