When the first graduating class of Cardinal Dougherty High School started planning its 50th reunion two years ago, they never imagined that three days before the big event the Archdiocese of Philadelphia would announce the end of their beloved alma mater.
As 250 people gathered last night at the Radisson Hotel in Trevose, the reunion, which began with a Mass, became a bit like an Irish wake, with lots of drinking and storytelling, laced with memories and a sniffle or two.
"It was a real kick in the pants," Frank Lynch, who came from Lancaster for the party, said of the news. "It was such a neat place. We ruled the school. We didn't have any upperclassmen."
They were 696 strong when Dougherty opened its doors on Sept. 5, 1956. Sophomores at the time, they paved the way for a journey that would be taken by close to 45,000 Catholic students during the next 50 years.
They thought it would go on another 50. At a Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in June, members of the first graduating class - now in their late 60s - ceremoniously passed the garnet-and-gold school flag to the 50th graduating class, exhorting them to pass it on to the 100th graduating class.
That day will never come.
Citing rising costs, falling enrollment, and competition from publicly funded charter schools, the archdiocese said this week that Dougherty, along with Northeast Catholic High School for Boys, would close at the end of the school year.
The '59ers knew things had changed. They knew many families couldn't afford the more than $5,000 annual tuition - they paid $50 - and that the school, once the largest Catholic high school in the world, has fewer students in all four grades than they had in their class.
Still, for Andrew Farley of Fallsington, the news was upsetting.
"Our memories are there," he said.
And oh, what memories.
"F-u-n. Fun, fun, fun. Good times," said Jeannie Rookstool, a retired interior designer from Hatboro, recalling her days at Dougherty. "I've had relationships and friendships that have endured 50 years."
To prove it, Steve Kiszely, owner of the Delaware Valley Packaging Group in Bensalem and cochair of the event, pulled out his wallet and flipped through two black-and-white pictures, the first of him and his wife, Roseann, at their wedding, and the second of him and Rookstool, at their junior prom.
Rookstool said she's still friends with 11 other "girls" from the school's symphony orchestra, which met for two periods each day and over the summer. Students often performed downtown at the Academy of Music, she said.
Dougherty was the Archdiocese's first coed school, though boys and girls were separated in opposite wings of the U-shaped building. "You had to have a pass to get to the other side," recalled Connie O'Brien Howarth of Ambler.
"It was wonderful," said Howarth, who worked on the school newspaper. "It was first class."
Frank Casino of Ambler compared Dougherty to a "five-star restaurant. Other schools were gray and drab and run of the mill. We had big columns painted in red and gold. . . . There was something magical about it. Even now, the people who graduated, they have class."
Back then, students were offered courses in academics, business, or general studies. One year of Latin was required for the boys, and two for the girls. The boys' homerooms were organized by academic achievement, while the girls' were arranged alphabetically. The girls could also study typing, stenography, and home economics. Boys were required to wear jackets and ties.
And of course, most of the teachers were nuns or priests.
"I think the only lay teachers taught gym," said Howarth.
Many of the '59ers stayed in touch, or at least caught up at the 25th reunion at the school. But others hadn't seen each other in five decades. To Pat Schmitt Driffin, who lives in Hilton Head, S.C., and Tom Fahey, who moved to Mexico six months ago, it didn't seem to matter.
"Look what he wrote in my yearbook - "To my cutest buddy," she gushed, passing the book around. Underneath he added on Saturday, "Same still after 50 years."
"And so true," said Fahy.
Driffin said she heard about the closing on the radio as she was driving to Philadelphia. It was a shock.
Tall and athletic, she was a member of the school drill team.
"I remember going in the wrong direction in the St. Patrick's Day parade right in front of the judges," she said with a laugh.
At least that was a mistake.
James Bond recalled putting tiny poppers in doorjambs so that when the priest walked in the classroom and closed the door, they would explode. He also let them slide down his pants to the ground. If he did it gently, they wouldn't pop. But when the kid behind him stepped on them, "it was louder than a cap gun," he said, laughing like a 13-year-old.
The Eminence yearbook on display showed girls in Jackie-O prom dresses and furs, with boys in white dinner jackets and black bow ties.
"Look at them," said Patricia McCreight of Medford. "My, how times have changed."
Yet some things endure.
"The spirit of our school will never die," said Kiszely. "We built this school. We gave back. And our class will continue to give back."
Contact Kathy Boccella at kboccella@phillynews.com or 610-313-8123.
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