50 YearsClass of 1961

25 YearsClass of 1986

Friday, April 29, 2011ON CAMPUS at

St. Rita of Cascia High School

Special ClassReunions

St. Rita of Cascia High SchoolProudly Presents

The 75th Annual

AlUMNi BANqUet“Coming Home”

75th Annual Alumni Banquet & Class ReunionsFriday, April 29, 2011

Welcome & Class of 1961 entranceRev. Thomas R. McCarthy, O.S.A. ’83, President

Video Presentation Honoring tonight’s Award Winners

Honorary Alumnus Award Raymond Fendler

Athletic AwardsDenis Bartz ’71; Jason Cegielski ’86; John Foley ’86; Donald Maher ’71;

John Reuther ’61; Robert Wirtz ’86; John Zaleski ’86

loyalty Awards James Brasher ’71; Joseph Donzelli ’61;

Gregory Pawlowski ’61; Scott Smolik ’86

Hall of Fame inductees Thomas Arundel ’80; Nicholas Calarco ’73;

Rev. Bernard Danber, O.S.A. ’68; Sally Deenihan (Hon.);Brian Hamilton ’90; William Obrochta ’52;Tony Simmons ’93; Frank “Bud” Sloup ’54

Mustang lifetime Achievement Award

Eugene McGrail ’41

2011 Man of the Year Michael Heeney ’71

invocation & DinnerRev. Thomas R. McCarthy, O.S.A. ’83, President

Bonanza ticket Drawing 1st Place - $2,500 | 2nd Place - $500

Closing Prayer Rev. Thomas R. McCarthy, O.S.A. ’83, President

2011 Alumni Banquet HonoreesRaymond Fendler, Honorary Alumnus AwardRay is the proud grandfather of current St. Rita seniors Matthew and Michael Oskvarek. Since Matt and Mike started at St. Rita in 2007, “Papa Ray” has been a loyal St. Rita supporter, especially of the St. Rita Band. Ray has been actively involved with the St. Rita Band Boosters taking on many behind-the-scene roles. Ray has volunteered each year at the Mustang Stampede and even braved freezing weather in 2008 to help raise money for the band’s trip to Italy in 2009. Whether it is driving his grandsons to and from school, taking on an active role in their academics, attending band performances and athletic events or volunteering and fundraising, Ray has demonstrated the amazing involvement that grandparents can have in the lives of their grandchildren. Ray would like everyone to know that he has loved all the good times he has experienced at St. Rita and was able to be involved due to the support of his wife Donna.

Denis Bartz, 1971, Athletic AwardDenis was a member of Student Council and the Knights of Augustine at St. Rita. He participated on the 1968 and 1969 Intramural Basketball Championship teams. Denis was named the MVP of the Varsity Football team his senior year and saw the team capture the Chicago Catholic League and Prep Bowl Championship titles. He was also named Mr. Mustang his senior year. After graduating from St. Rita, Denis accepted a scholarship to play football for the University of Hawaii where he led the team in rushing and touchdowns his freshman year. In 1973, he transferred to the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse to work toward his career goal of becoming a general dentist. He then received his doctoral degree in 1979 from Loyola University and has practiced dentistry on the Southwest Side ever since. In 1977, Denis married his high school sweetheart Nancy and they have been blessed with a wonderful family of four children, Jenny, Melissa, Michael and Kevin. Denis has enjoyed practicing dentistry with his brother Raymond for the past 30 years and he is also a part-time instructor at the Loyola Medical Center teaching general practice dental residents.

Jason Cegielski, 1986, Athletic AwardJason was named All-Catholic and 2nd Team Catholic All-American for his in-volvement on the Mustang Varsity Football team. After St. Rita, he went on to attend Purdue University where he was named All Big Ten with four game balls as an offensive guard. Jason currently resides in the Garfield Ridge Area of Chi-cago.

John Foley, 1986, Athletic AwardUpon graduating from St. Rita, John received a full scholarship to play football for Lou Holtz at the University of Notre Dame. At the time, John was the #1 football player in the country and received honors as the Sun-Times Player of the Year, Parade All-American Linebacker and the USA Today Defensive Player of the Year. A block against Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown during the 1988

Cotton Bowl ended John’s football career, but he went on to help recruit during the rest of his time at Notre Dame. John became an investment banker and was responsible for helping to turn-around many companies such as Key Bank and Oppenheimer. He now works for Barrington Research in Chicago as the Midwest Sales Manager. However, the most important thing to John is spending time with his family and his three boys, Ryan, Tyler and Nick. Ryan has followed in his father’s footsteps and plays football at NIU. John lives in Wrigleyville and enjoys traveling with his girlfriend Rebecca. He was inducted into the St. Rita Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Chicago Catholic League Hall of Fame in 2008.

Donald Maher, 1971, Athletic AwardDon was a member of St. Rita’s 1970 Lightweight Basketball City Championship team and the 1971 Heavyweight Catholic All Star team. He went on to attend Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he played basketball during his freshman year and baseball all four years. Don is a tech/service representative at INX International Ink Co. He has been married for 33 years to his wife Toni Marie. Don has three daughters, Kristy, Beth and Angie and six grandchildren, including quadruplets, they are, Nathan, Lylah, Landon, Olivia, Clare and Maya.

John Reuther, 1961, Athletic AwardJohn was the Catholic League leading scorer in basketball his senior year and was named to the All-City All-Star team. He received a basketball scholarship to the University of Louisville where he earned the 4th highest career point-per-game average (18.2) and scored a total of 1,346 points. John was selected to enter the Louisville Athletic Hall of Fame. John retired in 1998 after having spent 30 years as a high school teacher and 10 years as a basketball coach. He currently resides in Louisville with his wife of 44 years, Diana. John’s two brothers, also St. Rita alums, Joe ’60 and Jim ’63 are retired and reside in Louisville as well. Robert Wirtz, 1986, Athletic AwardAfter high school Bob attended the University of Central Florida where he played baseball. After one year out of state he came home and enrolled at Morton Junior College. At that time Bob continued playing baseball as he worked part-time for Wirtz Rentals Company, his family owned business. After two years at junior college, Bob decided to work full-time and play baseball in the summer. In 1992, he married his wife Julie, and in 1998, they had a daughter, Jordan. In 2001, their son Reece was born. Bob and his family have been living in Mokena since 2005 and he is the manager at Wirtz Rentals in Summit.

John Zaleski, 1986, Athletic AwardJohn earned many distinctions as a football player while at St. Rita. In 1985, he was named All-Area Defense, All-State Defense and Offense, Catholic All-Amer-ican Defense and Offense and USA Today All-American Punter with a 46.7 yard average. John earned a football scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. In 1992, he began a career in law enforcement with the Cook Country Sheriffs De-partment. John currently lives in Crown Point, Indiana with Sheila, his wife of 14 years. John and Sheila have a son Jake who is 11 years old and John’s nephew Alex is a St. Rita sophomore. John enjoys coaching his son’s football, basketball

and baseball teams.

James Brasher, 1971, loyalty AwardDuring his years at St. Rita, Jim played on the Frosh-Soph and Varsity Basket-ball teams. Following his graduation, Jim entered Loyola University of Chicago where he majored in accounting and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1975. Also in 1975, Jim became engaged to be married, received an Elijah Watts Sells award for his achievement in passing the CPA exam and joined the accounting firm of Peat Marwick Mitchell, now known as KPMG. He was with KPMG for almost 23 years, holding several leadership roles, including Vice Chair of Tax. Jim re-tired from KPMG in 2007 and joined Baker Tilly as the Managing Partner of Tax Services and will retire again this May. Jim serves on St. Rita’s Board of Direc-tors and is an active member of the Valentine Dinner Dance committee. He also serves on Loyola’s School of Business Board of Advisors. Jim has been married to his wife Debbi, a former St. Rita Cheerleader and Homecoming Queen, for 35 years and has three children, Jim, Aimee and Katie. Jim and Debbi currently live in Palos Park.

Joseph Donzelli, 1961, loyalty AwardUpon graduating from St. Rita, Joe went on to attend baking school, which he completed in 1963. Joe worked for Jewel Food Stores for over 30 years, three years as a bakery manager and 28 years as a distribution manager. In 2000, he retired from Jewel to start a 2nd career selling wooden pallets and he also sells cars for his childhood friend and fellow St. Rita graduate Joe Rizza. Joe has been mar-ried to his wife Mary Lou for over 45 years and they have two sons, one daughter and 10 grandchildren. He hopes to see some of his eight grandsons attend St. Rita in the future. Joe enjoys playing golf and likes to attend his athletic events that his grandchildren play in.

Gregory Pawlowski, 1961, loyalty AwardGreg was born in the Back of the Yards neighborhood and grew up on the South-side of Chicago, attending St. Basil grade school. While at St. Rita, he was a member of traveling bowling and golf teams. Greg graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 1966 with a BA in the teaching of French and Spanish. He then went on to get a Masters in the French language from Loyola University in 1972. Greg returned to St. Rita to teach French and Spanish from 1966 to 2005. Greg and his wife Joanne live in Plainfield and have two children, Mike and Janet, and seven grandchildren.

Scott Smolik, 1986, loyalty AwardScott was a four year member of St. Rita’s Football and Baseball teams. Since 1989 he has worked as an elevator mechanic for Schindler Elevator. In 1991, Scott married his wife Sharon and they had three children. Scott’s oldest son Scott graduated from St. Rita in 2010 and is now in the United States Marine Corps. His daughter Katie is a junior at Marist High School and his youngest son Jimmy will be a freshman next year at St. Rita. Scott has coached football at St. Linus in Oak Lawn since 2002.

thomas Arundel, 1973, Hall of Fame inducteeTom was a member of Student Council at St. Rita for all four years and was also a captain of both the football and baseball teams for which he was named All-Cath-olic League. He was named the St. Rita Man of the Year in 2002. Tom has been a very loyal supporter of the Valentine Dinner Dance. He has also always been a very generous and loyal supporter of all St. Rita athletic and academic programs throughout the years. Tom was also an original member of the Pat Cronin Memo-rial Golf and Scholarship Committee. Professionally, he had a very successful career at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Tom was preceded at St. Rita by his father William ’42 and his brothers Billy ’75 and Jimmy ’76.

Nicholas Calarco, 1973, Hall of Fame inducteeNick has dedicated his life to St. Rita. He was the last elected President of the Alumni Board of Directors. He was very instrumental in helping to create the St. Rita Alumni Scholarship Fund as well as the Legacy Scholarship for which he has served as Chairman for 5 years. Nick began serving on the President’s Alumni Advisory Board in 2008, and he became a member of the St. Rita Board of Di-rectors in 2010. He has been awarded the St. Rita Loyalty Award and the Crest of St. Augustine Award for his unwavering dedication to St. Rita of Cascia High School. Nick also coached in the St. Rita Baseball Program from 1999-2008 and has been instrumental in numerous fundraisers for the school’s athletic programs. Nick’s greatest accomplishment, though, is being the proud father of two St. Rita alumni, Anthony from the Class of 2001 and Nick from the Class of 2003. Rev. Bernard Danber, O.S.A., 1968, Hall of Fame inducteeFr. Danber grew up in the shadows of St. Rita High School, and the school was a big part of his life even before he became a student in 1964. As a student at St. Rita, he was an honors student and was involved in many clubs and activities. In 1989, Fr. Danber became only the 2nd Alumnus of St. Rita to be named Principal. During his tenure, in May of 1990 Cardinal Bernardin announced that St. Rita was moving its former campus at 63rd and Claremont to the campus of the former Quigley South located at 77th and Western. Through that process, Fr. Danber came to be known as “The 2nd Founder of St. Rita High School.” In addition to his 23 years in education, Fr. Danber has done parish and hospital ministry, and he is currently the chaplain for the Chicago White Sox.

Sally Deenihan, Honorary Alumnus, Hall of Fame inducteeIn 2007, Sally was named the 1st female Principal of St. Rita High School, the first for any Augustinian school in the country. This followed over 20 years of service to St. Rita as a teacher, department chair and administrator. Over the years, she made significant contributions to St. Rita as the Chair of the Curriculum Council, Secretary of the St. Rita Teachers’ Association and Moderator of the National Honor Society, Scholastic Bowl Team and Math Team. In her 25 years at St. Rita, her passion for education was unmatched, and she worked each day to carry out the mission that was started by the Augustinians in 1905. Sally is married to Brian ’60 and mother of Brian ’88, Patrick ’90 and Brendan ’91. She retired as Principal in 2010, but her impact on St. Rita will be felt for generations to come.

Brian Hamilton, 1990, Hall of Fame inducteeBrian was one of the most dominant defensive players in St. Rita Football His-tory. He was named a USA Today 1st Team All-American Defensive Tackle in his senior season of 1989. He was also named 1st Team All-State in The Chicago Sun-Times in his senior season and The Chicago Tribune in both his junior and senior seasons. Brian was also awarded the Tony Lawless Award as the top player in the Catholic League during his senior season. He earned a scholarship to play football at the University of Notre Dame where he was a three-year starter and captain of the team in 1994. Brian is currently a board member of the Lou’s Lads Foundation, a charitable organization established in honor of Lou Holtz to pro-vide financial assistance to underprivileged students.

William Obrochta, 1952, Hall of Fame inducteeBill was very involved in his days as a student at St. Rita, including Intramu-ral Basketball, Student Government, the Sanctuary Society, Camera Club, Radio Club, and as a member of the Fighting Mustangs Football team. He was a two-year starter for the Mustangs anchoring the offensive life as a guard. In his junior year he had the privilege of playing with his older brother Wally ’51, a cherished memory for both. Bill accepted a scholarship to play football at the University of Tulsa where he was a three-year Letterman also earning All-Missouri Valley rec-ognition as a guard. After college, he spent time as a teacher and football coach at both St. Rita and De La Salle before becoming a pipefitter. Eventually, Bill started the company Joliet Valves, which he owned for 30 years before selling it. He has a strong devotion to the mission of St. Rita High School and the Augustin-ians and continues to be a very generous supporter.

tony Simmons, 1993, Hall of Fame inducteeTony was a football and track standout while at St. Rita. He was named The Chicago Sun-Times Athlete of the Year in 1993. Tony also became the 1st track athlete in St. Rita History to win an Individual State Championship, winning both the 100M and 200M titles in 1993. He attended the University of Wisconsin on a football scholarship where he set the Badger record for touchdown receptions with 23. Tony was a 2nd round draft pick of the New England Patriots in 1998. He played five seasons in the NFL with the Patriots, Browns, Colts and the Giants, amassing 58 career receptions for 998 total yards and six touchdowns. Tony also played three seasons in the Canadian Football League. He is currently coaching in the Danish American Football League in Denmark.

Frank “Bud” Sloup, 1954, Hall of Fame inducteeBud was a standout football and basketball player during his days at St. Rita. He was an All-Catholic and All-State halfback in football and an All-Catholic and All-City basketball star. Bud went on to Purdue University where he decided to concentrate on football. St. Rita Hall of Fame Basketball Coach Barney Badke called Sloup one of the best basketball players ever to play at St. Rita. After col-lege, he had a very successful career in sales retiring in 2000. Frank has been married to his wife Dorothy for 55 years, and together they have three children, Nancy, Joyce and Bob. They also have six grandchildren.

eugene McGrail, 1941, 2011 Mustang lifetime Achievement AwardAfter graduating as Valedictorian from St. Rita, Gene was hired by Peoples Gas, Light & Coke Co. In 1943, he went into the Army where he met the high school friend of his wife Pat. He started writing Pat who lived in Rhode Island and when he was discharged in 1946 he finally met her. Gene then returned to work at Peoples Gas and in 1948 married Pat. Together they had their first son in 1950. The McGrail family relocated a couple times as they had more children, before settling in Morgan Park where they had their 7th child. For Gene’s 50th reunion for St. Rita he became actively involved in locating lost alumni, an effort that he continued for many years. In 1988, he retired from Peoples Gas and began taking an annual week of classes at Indiana University, which he is looking forward to taking part in for a 23rd year. Over the 70 years since his high school graduation Gene has remained very active at St. Rita. Gene was named St. Rita’s Man of the Year in 1991, earned the St. Rita President’s Award in 1995 and received the crest of St. Augustine Award in 2007.

Michael Heeney, 1971, 2011 Man of the YearMike is a lifelong resident of the Beverly neighborhood. He was a member of the National Honor Society and The Ritan newspaper staff at St. Rita. After graduat-ing from St. Rita Mike attended Illinois State University and the Worsham Col-lege of Mortuary Science in Chicago. He has been a licensed funeral director-em-balmer in Illinois for 36 years and is the third generation in his family’s business, Heeney-Laughlin Funeral Directors. Mike has been a very loyal and generous supporter of St. Rita for many years. He has been a member of the Valentine Din-ner Dance Committee, and he has helped to continue the tradition of the Heeney Awards, which recognize St. Rita students for achieving straight A’s on their se-mester report cards. Mike has also been an active lifelong parishioner of Christ the King Parish, serving as an usher, lector and a member of the Parish Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Illinois Funeral Directors Association, Bev-erly Area Planning Association, Ridge Historical Society and the Knights of Co-lumbus Cardinal Bernardin Council #324. Mike and his wife Denice have been married for 33 years and they have two sons, Michael and Matthew. His brother Joseph also attended St. Rita graduating in 1967.

Congratulations to all of

st. rita of CasCia HigH sCHool’s2011alumni Banquet Honorees

tom Kelly, 1961, Fallen HeroFollowing his graduation from St. Rita, Tom worked as a teller at Chicago City Bank while he studied Business Administration at Bogan Junior College, now Richard J. Daley College. During those years, he also met his future fiancée Jo-anna Polo. In 1965, Tom joined the U.S. Marines as a reservist and then decided to pursue a career with the Chicago Police Department. During his short 4 years as a Chicago Police Officer, he served in various assignments, including time in the Area 1 Task Force. Because Tom was never one to talk shop, his family was unaware that he earned 20 honorable mentions during those 4 years. With his ca-reer off to a good start, Tom and Joanna became engaged and started to plan their lives together. However, on May 3, 1970 during a routine traffic stop Tom’s life came to a sudden, tragic end as he was killed in the line of duty. Tom’s memory will live on in the hearts of all who knew him and shared in his love and friend-ship.

St. Rita of CaSCia

HigH SCHool

tHankS and HonoRS

ouR national and loCal alumni SeRviCe men

1964 David A. Kamm ’54 1965 Hon. Edward J. Egan ’411966 Hon. William J. Campbell ’221967 Dr. John J. Brosnan ’321968 Thomas W. Dower ’101969 John J. Madigan ’341970 Capt. Thomas M. Frost ’401971 Emmet McCarthy ’141972 Rev. Raymond R. Ryan, O.S.A. ’48 1972 John J. McHugh ’47 1972 Robert F. Jemilo ’531973 Lawrence F. Stark ’531974 Edmund J. Rooney ’421975 John F. Brady ’26 1976 John J. Cranley, Sr. ’261977 Earl F. Evans ’30 1978 Raymond J. Parello ’45 1979 Terrence J. O’Reilly ’28 1980 Ralph H. Steinbarth ’451981 Charles S. Dunphy ’26 1982 Bro. Mark Thedens, O.S.A. ’55 1983 Louis Ricci ’531984 Rev. Martin J. Sobiesk, O.S.A. ’47 1985 James C. Miller ’471986 Dr. James J. Gardner ’29

1987 Edward J. Gedraitis ’461988 Patrick E. Mahoney ’541989 Rev. Patrick E. Murphy, O.S.A. ’661990 Robert A. Black ’40 1991 Eugene T. McGrail ’411992 William T. Doyle ’411993 William J. McNichols ’29 1994 Rev. Walter McNicholas, O.S.A. ’441995 Dr. Donald Racky, Jr., Ph.D. ’54 1996 Francis E. Napleton ’431997 Joseph M. Scanlon ’581998 James Segredo ’731999 Jack Quinn (H) & Gene Schaller (H)2000 Fr. John R. Gavin, O.S.A. ’402001 John Buckley ’702002 Thomas M. Arundel ’802003 Richard Hochgraver ’712004 Michael J. McArdle ’542005 Rev. Thomas R. McCarthy, O.S.A. ’832006 Michael J. Maione ’562007 Arthur R. Velasquez ’562008 Dr. Gerardo A. Grieco ’722009 Michael Georgopulos ’722010 Donald A. Petkus ’582011 Michael P. Heeney ’71

St. Rita of Cascia High School“Man of the Year” Honorees

St. Rita of Cascia High SchoolOffice of institutional Advancement

Rev. Thomas R. McCarthy, O.S.A. ’83, PresidentErnest J. Mrozek ’71, Vice President

Thomas J. Ramsden, Director of Institutional AdvancementJoshua R. Blaszak ’02, Director of Alumni & Public Relations

Trisha A. Harrington, Administrative AssistantDaniel A. Manzella ’03, Advancement OfficerJohn Schmitt ’84, Director of Annual Appeal

Javier Solorio II ’02, Director of Graphic DesignRobert Quinn (Hon.), Advancement Officer

Solemn NovenaFriday, May 13, 2011 - Saturday, May 21, 2011

6:00 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation 7:00 p.m. Mass and Novena Prayers

Feast Day MassesSunday, May 22, 2011

9:30 a.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation10:00 a.m. Mass and Novena Prayers

6:00 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation7:00 p.m. Mass and Novena Prayers

St. Rita of CasciaA Saint for Our Day

W i f e, Mo t h er, W i d ow, A u g u st i n i an Nu n , Peacema ker

St. Rita of Cascia is the Patroness of the Impossible

St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel7740 S. Western Ave. | Chicago, Illinois 60620 | (773) 925-6600

St. Rita of Cascia High School

36th Annual Scholarship Golf Outing

Friday, July 22, 2011

1:45 p.m. Shotgun StartGleneagles Country Club – Lemont, IL

Advertise Your Business With A sponsorshipFor Details ContaCt st. rita’s aDvanCement oFFiCe at (773) 925-5029

$150 per golferIncludes golf & cart, beer during golf,

sausage cookout on course, and dinner with open bar after golf.

details & registrationAvailable online starting May, 6, 2011

@ www.stritahs.com