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St Mary's High School Alumni
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We recently asked the last class, 1975, what it was like when the high school closed. Here is what they had to say:
Responses Provided by:Bob Walch, Melanie Kordzik, Janet Ranslaben, Karla Griffith, Janice Seiler, Diane Moellendorf, Russell Immel1) What effect did the closing of St. Mary’s High School have on you?B.W. I was really sad. My classmates were my closest friends. My parents, and 5 brothers and sisters had graduated from St. Mary's, except for my Dad who was orphaned at 14 and had to finish his final years at FHS. I felt cheated out of graduating as an Indian.M.K. I remember feeling betrayed. Our class had been together since 1st grade (some kindergarten) and I resented our class being disbursed. Once at FHS I rarely saw my St. Mary’s classmates.J.R. I had mixed emotions about the school closing. I had wanted to play sports, which St. Mary’s at that time didn’t have much for the females. But, we had been together as a class for most of our lives and that prat of it was hard.K.G. It was heartbreaking to me. Your high school years are such an important and special part of your life. To find out our lives would change, was scary and emotional for me. It ended up being an easy adjustment though.J.S. I definitely missed the closeness I had with my St. Mary’s classmates and the close rapport we had with teachers. At FHS I had the chance to be part of an exceptional band and had some wonderful science teachers. I thought their English classes lacked the thoroughness we got at St. Mary’s and felt a bit short-changed in that category. I was lucky that I had met lots of the students through other means years before attending school at FHS.D.M. I definitely had mixed emotions about the school closing. All of my brothers and sisters went to St. Mary's and were able to walk across the stage in St. Joseph's Hall to graduate and receive their high school diploma. With the school closing, I was the only one in the family that did not get to graduate from St. Mary's High School so the St. Mary's tradition in my family was broken.R.I. I was naturally disappointed. I guess I was like most and just assumed the school would continue on. We were a part of a “street dance” held behind the high school with Darrell McCall to try to make money to keep it going but it fell way short. It was a tough day walking out that last day of school…2) What impact did attending St. Mary's have on you?B.W. St. Mary's has had a lifelong effect on me. I had fun there, but more importantly, it prepared me for further education and life in general. The nuns instilled in us a sense of service that permeated our lives. By the time St. Mary's closed, our class was down to 16 souls, but that class produced a mayor, a city council man and various church and community leaders. I doubt that I would have joined the Peace Corps if our teachers had not instilled in us a strong Catholic guilt... er desire to help.M.K. I learned the value of having a strong faith. Mass was offered every morning and it was just a routine part of our day. We prayed freely, but we certainly had our fun and mischievous behavior as well. I felt safe, secure and completely accepted at St. Mary’s. We were more family than classmates.J.R. Going to St. Mary’s made me a better person, learning to treat others as you would like to be treated, and it taught me how to feel guilt (which a lot of people don’t have) and knowing what is right or wrong and helping me to make the right choices in life.K.G. St. Mary's taught me the importance of Christ in our lives. The education was outstanding, even though I did not realize it at the time.J.S. It made me realize that relationships mean as much to me as a quality education. Our St. Mary’s bunch have remained close. The education was first rate and prepared me well for college.D.M. St. Mary's was a smaller school and because of this our class stuck together as friends. We were taught that when you hurt someone you apologize and we were taught to treat everyone with respect. St. Mary's taught me how to pray and how to care for people. As a mother and grandmother, I have taken what I learned from St. Mary's and passed this on to my children and grandchildren.R.I. It certainly taught me some life lessons along with “standard” education. We were a close nit student body and there was a lot of interaction between the grades. Much more than when I went to FHS; just due to the size. I was about 5 foot nothing and 100 and nothing but I got to play football. I think we only had 18 players on the football team that last year but we won two games!3) In your opinion, what's the importance of a Catholic education?B.W. The Catholic education I received helped formed my values that I have today. I felt it was so important, that we moved back to Fredericksburg and a big reason for the move was so we could send our kids to St. Mary's.M.K. Catholic is what we are. We should continually learn our faith. It’s the church Jesus started on earth and I believe we are responsible for carrying it on. We are so blessed to have a parish school where prayer life is promoted rather than denied.J.R. A Catholic education definitely taught me the importance of prayer.K. G. Religion and the Lord are the most important part in anyone's life. We were privileged enough to have the very best.J.S. Any means of knowing more about our Lord and Savior is a blessing. To have that on a daily basis, although it seemed to be a bit much as a child, was priceless.D.M. A Catholic education is awesome. You learn how to pray to God. We prayed everyday in school and we went to Church. You do not see this anymore. This has taught me to be a better person. Just think about it, if everyone would pray, what would this world be like today. We all need God in our lives.R.I. If you do not have faith, you have nothing. Sunday school or weekly religion classes just do not make up for daily classes along with living it every day at school.4) What differences stood out to you when attending high school at St. Mary's versus high school at Fredericksburg high school (or where ever you transferred to)?B.W. FHS is a good school and we made good friends there, that being said, the education I received at St. Mary's made FHS seem a breeze in comparison.M.K. Huge difference for me anyway. St. Mary’s high school was known as a college preparatory school whether one’s plans were to attend college or not, we were all being prepared. When I entered FHS I remember thinking, “I know all this already” and was very surprised at how easy every class was. And, of course, the student population was much bigger. The good part of transferring was making more friends.J.R. The education was definitely more advanced at St. Mary’s.K.G. I just did not further my education by attending another school. I was shocked at how easy it was.D.M. With St. Mary's being a smaller school, the teachers knew who we were, we were not just a number to them. They were able to give us one on one education. Very important! The public school was huge compared to St. Mary's and you had to walk fast or run to get to your classes on time (as the old saying goes, kinda like a rat race). The public school schedule was a little different than St. Mary's which we all had to adjust to.R.I. Mostly the sheer number of people. I met many new people that I probably would never have met had I stayed at St. Mary’s. That is not all bad. I actually met my future wife at FHS (and we are still married to this day)!5) Other comments?B.W. I echo my classmates' sentiments that even though we may not see each other that much, when we get together we pick up where we left off. I see them as lifelong friends.M.K. I still feel very close to my St. Mary’s classmates. We get together at least every few years and we seem to pick up the conversation as if it were days instead of years in between. We include earlier years’ classmates as well. Always a great time reliving our memories.J.R. We are still a close class, getting together once a year if not more often, if we can.K.G. It is so wonderful now to have such a close group of St. Mary's lifelong friends and to walk into church and feel so at home!D.M. I wish St. Mary's had the high school back. Yes, there is the school in Kerrville, but I would rather see the high school here. Not fond of the children having to take a bus out of town to go to school. Also miss hearing that good old song, "The Bells of St. Mary's"!R.I. I feel that I really got to experience the best of both worlds. We did more with less at St. Mary’s so it made me appreciate things at FHS more.