Brother Rene Sterner of La Salle

Brother Rene Sterner, 71, president of La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor from 1991 to 2005, died of liver cancer Monday at St. Catherine's Infirmary in East Germantown.

In 1990, Pope John Paul II awarded him with the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal for outstanding service to the church.

Brother Sterner expanded La Salle High in culture, in sports, and with bricks and mortar, school spokesman Christopher M. Carabello said.

He began a choral program, coached an award-winning debate team, and brought to the school three boys from Bosnia and five from Sudan during turmoil in both nations. All graduated and went on to college.

He began a lacrosse team, the current state champion, in 1992. He also undertook two major fund-raising campaigns that resulted in the construction of St. Michael Hall in 1993 and the West Wing in 2001.

In 2003, Brother Sterner helped found La Salle Academy in North Philadelphia, a partnership between the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of St. Joseph. The school, at Second and Jefferson Streets in the parish where La Salle High began in 1858, is intended for children in grades three through eight whose caregivers cannot afford a Catholic education.

Born Frederick S. Sterner in Hanover, Pa., he was valedictorian of the Class of 1955 at Delone Catholic High School in McSherrystown and, after joining the Brothers of the Christian Schools in 1955, graduated magna cum laude from what is now La Salle University in 1959.

He earned master's degrees in theology from La Salle in 1960 and in history from Duquesne University in 1967.

Brother Sterner began his career in 1960 at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, rising to vice principal before leaving in 1977.

Before teaching at La Salle from 1977 to 1980, he was principal at Calvert Hall College High School in Baltimore from 1980 to 1990 and, after leaving La Salle, was director of public relations at his alma mater in McSherrystown from 2006 to last year.

In his years at Central Catholic, Brother Sterner hosted over the Thanksgiving weekend one of the largest and most prestigious speech and debate tournaments, Carabello said.

At La Salle, he said, Brother Sterner's teams won two Pennsylvania High School Speech League championships, one National Catholic Forensics League championship, and one National Forensics League championship.

Brother Sterner was elected to the state league's hall of fame in 1986 and to the national league's hall of fame in 1987. Last year, the national league gave him its first alumni lifetime service award, Carabello said.

Brother Sterner is survived by brothers Stephen and David, sisters Patricia Gurtizen and Margaret Kenworthy, and 11 nieces and nephews.

Friends may call from 4 to 7:15 p.m. tomorrow at Marian Chapel at La Salle College High School, 8605 Cheltenham Ave., Wyndmoor. A Funeral Mass will be said at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in the school gymnasium.

On Saturday, friends may call from 9 to 11 a.m. at La Salle Hall, 6001 Ammendale Road, Beltsville, Md.