WHO'S WHO ON THE CLASS PICTURE

With the great help of Mary Fischer, I've been able to identify the people on the class picture. (Actually, Mary got most of the names, I was an absolute eejit (as they say in Ireland) about who was who. Anyway, here is the list which will correspond with the class picture you were sent: (I only used first names and maiden name initials - you can find the full name on the list of attendees you were sent.)

Top Row: Bonnie W., Connie C., Delores R., Martha W., Barb A., Judy B, Geneva M., Sheila R., Ruth N., Pat H., Ruth L., Joyce J., Lois I., Carolyn A., Lucy F., Eileen L., Joy H., Marilyn K., Deanna B.
Row 3: Joanne S, Joyce F., Jane M., Marilyn P., Theresa H., Marilyn N., Wilma S., Connie S., Arlene W., Mary H., Valerie K., Mary Ann C., Madelyn K., Mary Alice H., Mary Jo K., Mary F., Peggy D., Carol L., Rita L., Judy B, Fran S.
Row 2: Marjorie K., Rosemary S., Joy K., Norma T., Mary Ann B., Jeanne D., Pat B., Sr. Barb P., Alice R. Ruth P., Mary Ann V., Lois M., Judy K., Kathy C., Diana L., Gail S.
Row 1: Toni G., Pat S., Donna H., Sally T., Judy Z., Carol T., Jeanne H., Bonnie H., Judy K., Ann S., Joyce D., Nancy B., Mary Grace H., Nancy E., Patii H., Pat K., Jean S.

I could easily have goofed on these names. If you have a correction, please send to me at Heimerm@fuse.net
Also, if you have any pictures that you would like me to include, please send them to me and I will add them to the gallery.

The Last of My Pictures!

These are the last few pictures I took at the Reunion. If you have some you would like to add, please send them to Heimerm@fuse.net
Picture 1: Sister Barb
Picture 2: Barb is Speaking; Valerie is enjoying it!
Picture 3: Nancy is listening.

Official Class Picture

The picture of our class came in the mail yesterday. It had the name of the blog on it so welcome to anyone who hasn't been here before as well as welcome to those who have been following it often. I'm getting to the end of my pictures, so if anyone else has some that you would like to have included, please send them to Heimerm@fuse.net
Thanks!
First names of the people in the pictures are as follows"
Top picture: Joy, Mary Ann, Norma
Middle picture: Mary Grace (Gracer), Sheila, Sally
Bottom Picture: Connie, Marilyn, Martha

The Mind is Going!

I'm just about finished with my pictures - don't forget to send along any that you would like everyone to see - Ruth is getting ready to send out the reunion picture and will include the web site in the mailing. (Thanks for the idea, Mary Fischer.) Send your pictures or ideas to me at heimerm@fuse.net
Unfortunately, my brain cells are just about shot and I can't come up with some of the names in the remaining pictures. Any help would be appreciated.
Top picture: Dianna and Joyce
Bottom picture: Judy, Pat, Marilyn and Pat

How My OLA Education Formed Me

A few people asked me to post this:

I learned many valuable things while at Our Lady of Angels:

---I learned to chew gum without moving my mouth.

---I learned that some staircases only go up, and some only go down.

---I learned that, if eaten with ketchup, mustard and pickle relish, a hot dog fulfills all a person’s daily nutritional needs.

---I learned you could get out of study hall if you volunteered to pray a rosary in chapel.

---I learned the proper form in volleyball:

if the ball is hit in your direction, immediately jerk to attention, cover your head with both arms, and duck.

---I learned that if you sew the neckline seams together, a bathrobe can be really hard to wear.

---I learned that, at the end of a long school day, you could wave good by to the nuns from a school bus window, and, AT THE SAME TIME, fan away the evidence of a lit cigarette.

Those bits of wisdom have saved me many times; and here is more:

---I learned to question and not to be deterred. In the book Catholic Girls’ Guide, written by a priest, I read that women shouldn’t study math---it’s too hard for their little heads.

I thought, what a wit! and went on, not just to study math but also to teach it---at the middle-school and high-school levels, and now to college students.

---I learned to value myself as a person and as a woman, by observing our admirable nuns as real PEOPLE and by succumbing to education at their hands.

---And I learned to value others, by getting to know, and working beside, you, my sisters and classmates.

I learned, and continue to learn, what a real friend is, and how to love even the flaws, how to love past my own flaws.

---I learned that God is always present, and so I can, and still do, pray: any time, any place---at home, at the supermarket, while driving, at work.

---From my days at Our Lady of Angels, I grasped somehow a sense of the sacred, and how to integrate it into my life, asking myself questions like,

what does God want from me, at this time and place?

I learned how to deepen and grow, day by day, though I can hardly say just how this happened.

I’m just grateful that it did.



All these things, I learned and lived by.

I treasure these memories of that brief time, and the wisdom imparted to me,

which so beautifully prepared me for my life up to now and steadies me, readies me, for my life yet to be experienced.

For I have learned that the best is yet to come.

And I look forward to sharing it with you!

(Nancy Ernst Conrad and I had long talks on the way to the school bus. I was always the questioning one - probably still am - but I must have absorbed some of those long-ago conversations. Also, thanks to my good friend, Connie Wolfer, who helped me put this into shape as I threw out most of the items in my fridge after our surprise visit from Hurrican Ike. - Mary)

Something in the Water

Here is some of the Saint Pete's contingent (all but Barb.) Someone commented how young they looked. Maybe it was the Reading water - though in later years we found out it came from radioactive wells!
Top picture: Mary Ann, Ruthie, Carol, Barb, Joy
Lower picture: Mary Grace (Gracer)

The Pics Go On

I'm getting close to the end of the pictures I was able to take at the Reunion. If you have some, send them to me, Mary Heimert: Heimerm@fuse.net and I will see that they are posted. Thanks, Mary

Gals in the pictures are
Top Pic: Marilyn
Second pic: Mary Jo, Sally, Lois
Third pic: Mary, Joy, Mary Ann

Still More Pictures!

Here are a few more pictures. I took most of these after the dinner - still more to come - keep watching!
Top picture: Barb, Geneva, Judy, Arlene
Middle picture: Geneva, Mary Grace (Gracer), Barb, Pat, Joyce
Bottom picture: Ruth, Mary Jo, Nancy, Eileen

Our Deceased Classmates

Here is a list of our classmates who have passed away.

Mary Ann Hancock Coon
Jacqui Wallpe Ernst
Kathy Rothan Lee
Patricia Buckley Lipka
Carole Lowe
Carol Miller
Eileen Donohue Mitchell
Patricia Gorman Mitchell
Mary Beth Hughes Reed
JoAnn Smith Regner
Jill Maisel Riesenberg
Cecilia Luken Ruter
Judy Frank Schwab
Patricia Ulm Sicking
Janet Linesch Simes
Maureen McEneny Sodgrass
Sandra Turner
Kathy Twohig
Mary Ann Cassil Watzeck
Marian Berta Wiley
Judy Gifford Witte
Mary Pangburn Yocum

May they rest in peace.


I was shocked to hear some of the names read at the Mass on Sunday and also at the number of names on the list -about 14% of our graduating class. If you wish, send me some memories of someone on the list that you knew well, and I'll post a story about her. My e-mail is Heimerm@fuse.net

More Reunion Pictures

Here are a few more reunion pictures. I swear we look better now than we did in high school - maybe it was the white blouse and blue skirt that gave us all the frumpy look.
Here are the first names of the people in the pictures: Top picture: Pat, Mary, Mary Ann, Ann, Joyce
Middle picture: Pat, Rita, Carol, Sheila
Bottom picture: Donna, Jane, Shiela

Some reunion pictures!

Here are a few more pictures - I apologize for just the first names. Bonnie is on the first picture and Ruth, Lois and Kathy are on the second. I must say, we look darned good after 50 years!

Reunion Chatter

The OLA Class of '58 Reunion is history! Hope everyone had a great time. Many thanks to Ruth Pahren Linesch for chairing the event and for all who worked so hard to make it happen! I managed to take a few photos and will start publishing them on the blog. Sorry I didn't get everyone but if you have pictures you would like me to include, send them to me, Mary Heimert, e-mail Heimerm@fuse. net
Looks like I can only get one on at a time, so our first is fittingly of Ruth.

REMEMBERING MISS BOLLMAN

As I look back over my high school career, one of the teachers who had a huge influence on me was Miss Bollman, later known as Mrs. Maloney. I remember how math suddenly became fascinating to me - Algebra was so much fun - I loved working with symbols and understanding the logic of it all. I admired Miss Bollman's precision, not just in her mathematics, but also in her clothes, her speech and her demeanor. She really hated gum chewing!
Now that I see her age, I notice that she was only about 10 years older than us - she must have been 24 or 25 when she taught our class, but I remember her as the consumate teacher, always in control, but also always patient and helpful. I still remember Rita Link saying that we'd better try to get a seat in the front of the class, since her sister had told her that we'd better pay attention in Miss Bollman's class.
She had such an influence on me that I too went on to be a math teacher, teaching for many years in Wyoming and even now teaching and running the math tutoring center part time at Thomas More College. I wish I had looked her up to say thank you when she was still living, but I suspect she understands far more now the influence she had on so many.
Thank you Miss Bollman!

Here is the article I found on the internet:

Mary Maloney was steadfast in her religious faith
Teacher, mother, wife of state senator
BY REBECCA GOODMAN
MONTGOMERY - Mary Maloney, a high school math teacher who tutored hundreds of students after she retired, died Sept. 10 of complications of pancreatic cancer. She was 78.
Mrs. Maloney was married for 51 years to former Ohio Sen. Michael J. Maloney.
She was known to almost everyone as "Tickie." Her birth name was Mary Catherine Bollman, but when her older brother Bob said "Catherine" it sounded like "Tickie." The nickname stuck throughout her life. Mrs. Maloney grew up in St. Bernard, where she attended St. Clement School and Our Lady of Angels High School. She graduated from Edgecliff College and received a master's degree in education from Xavier University. She taught at Withrow High School and Our Lady of Angels before taking time off to raise a family of five children. She did that largely by herself because her husband spent four days a week working in Columbus, said her son, Richard Maloney of Springfield Township. Mrs. Maloney returned to teaching at Seton High School in the 1980s. She taught again at Our Lady of Angels before retiring from Mount Notre Dame High School in Reading in 1990. A devout Christian, she enjoyed debating about faith with her brother, a Jesuit priest. "She was the most faith-filled person I have ever known," her son said. "We used to kid that she was holier than the pope." To her 12 grandchildren she was "Mimi," the beloved grandma who gave great Christmas and birthday gifts. She also took them along on vacations to Michigan, where she climbed the Sleeping Bear Dunes with them the year before she was diagnosed with cancer in May 2005. "She remained positive until the end and was never afraid," said her son.
Mrs. Maloney was preceded in death by a 2-year-old son, Michael R. Maloney, in 1961.
In addition to her husband and son Richard, survivors include three other sons, Timothy of Hyde Park, Pat of Montgomery and Thomas of Salt Lake City; a daughter, Brigid Huber of Symmes Township; two brothers, Robert N. Bollman of Indian Hill and the Rev. Richard Bollman, pastor of Bellarmine Chapel at Xavier University; and 12 grandchildren.
Services have been held. Burial was at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.

WHAT WAS OUR SCHOOL SONG?

I don't know about you, but I always thought "Mother Beloved" was our school song. A group us (fondly known for 50 years as The Club) were discussing it at breakfast a couple of months ago, and somehow there was another song mentioned. We did agree that "Mother Beloved" was sung at all occassions, even at school dances. Can you imagaine that happening at a high school dance now. On second thought, maybe it would make a good rap... but could you hip-hop to it????
If anyone can remember the other song, please comment and show us your superior memory. Till then, here are the words to "Mother Beloved."
Mother Beloved
Join your hands Loyal bands
While we pledge one another
Unity and fealty
To our Queen and our Mother
One our faith One our love
One our leader and Lord
One our aim one hope above
One united accord

Chorus
Mother beloved of God and of men
Here at your feet Faithful we meet
Comrades of Mary Redeemed by your Son
Keep us who love you In all things one

SOMETHING TO WEAR TO THE REUNION?

I recently received this e-mail from Mike Murray at Roger Bacon:
In the spring of 2007, permission was granted to the Business Outfitters division of Lands End to reproduce the OLA trademark logo for embroidered clothing sales. The OLA logo is now available to be embroidered at a nominal cost on a wide variety of clothing including shirts, knits, sweaters, outerwear and hats. To visit the OLA E-Store website, please click (or copy and paste into your browser) the following web address:

http://ocs.landsend.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/corpsales/OGS_HOME.d2w/report?store_name=corpsales&ogs=OLA

I can see it now: all of us coming into the Reunion wearing our sweaters with the OLA logo. Pretty cool - no, I mean spiffy - no, that's not right. What did we used to say when we thought something looked good? Oh, the memory is definitely going!

+MARIAN BERTA WILEY+

One of our dear angels of '58 - Marian Berta Wiley - passed away on February 3, 2008. Here is the death notice from the Enquirer:
WILEY Marian Rose, nee Berta. Beloved wife of Roy Lee Wiley. Beloved mother of Daniel (Randi) Wiley, James Wiley, Lisa (Richard) Jeandron, Albert (Kristine) Wiley, David (Robin) Wiley, Vicky (Edward) Downey and the late Patrick Wiley. Loving grandmother of 13 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. Devoted sister of James Berta. Passed away Sunday February 3, 2008 residence Harrison OH formerly of New Orleans LA. age 67. Visitation in the John C. Brater Funeral Home, Harrison OH Wednesday from 5-8 PM. Mass of Christian Burial in the St. John The Baptist Church on Thursday February 7 at 10:30 AM. Memorials may be made to the American Heart Fund through the funeral home.
The rest of this information was obtained from Roy, who kindly shared some memories of Marian and their life together:
Marian was born in Cincinnati and baptized in St. George Church. When she was growing up, her dad was the chef at Mecklenburg Gardens - he even had a TV show for a while! She met her husband, Roy, when she was a student at OLA. The first time she met him, she asked him whether he liked Ricky Nelson. When he said no, she smacked him in the face. Right then and there he decided he wanted to marry such a passionate person - he proposed to her on the dance floor at Castle Farms at our Senior Prom! They were married for 46 years.
They lived outside New Orleans, close to Slidell, Louisiana near Lake Pontchartrain. Just hearing those names brings back thoughts of devastation and loss, and indeed Marian and Roy were right in the center of the storm. They had sustained winds of 140 mph with gusts of 170. Fortunately, they did not try to ride it out but took refuge in another town. Although their house survived the winds pretty well, it was damaged completely by the water surge that followed. They lost everything in Katrina, especially irreplacable things like 27 albums of pictures. Even their wedding album was taken. Roy now has one picture of their wedding day that someone has given him which he treasures - that is the picture taken in front of Our Lady's statue outside OLA.
After the hurricane, they stayed a while in Baton Rouge, until Marian said, "Let's go back home to Cincinnati." With the insurance money from Katrina, they were able to make a new start in the city in which they were both born and raised. Marian had been in ill health since the death of her son in 2001 and quietly died two years after they came back. She had a good life with her husband and children and is missed by her family and friends.
Marian, May the Angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs greet you at your arrival and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem. May all the other Angels of '58 who have gone before us welcome you into that great reunion in heaven.

NAME THAT ANGEL

This was the beginning of a musical career for this '58 angel. Can you name her? Click on comments to make a guess. Keep watching for the answer.
Hint: she was very involved with music in high school and still directs a choir and teaches music.
If you'd like to be a NAME THAT ANGEL e-mail a picture to me or snail mail it to me at 98 Albert St. 45217 Mary

SNOW DAY AT OLA

This is a shot on Bertus St. looking toward the site where OLA used to be.

I cannot for the life of me remember one snow day when we didn't have to go to school. I do remember that the bus from Greenhills never made it. How I envied those Greenhills girls! But the darn city buses always came eventually. It was a treat, though, to go to Friends in Lockland to have a hot chocolate while we waited for the school bus to come. What are your memories of snow days?

SAVE THE DATE

Welcome to the OLA class of 58 blog. I just received my flyer giving the date of the reunion - Sunday, September 21, 2008 at Clovernook Country Club. I know it's been a long time every time I go by the place where the school used to be and look at the houses!
I volunteered to set up this blog so that we could all keep in touch and keep informed. Maybe we can test our memories with some class trivia also. To be part of the conversation, just click comments at the end of this post. You can then sign in with your name or you can sign in as anonymous. I do read the comments before they are published - I understand that it's a good idea to do that since tricksters on the internet are always looking for bogs they can fill with garbage... and worse!
There are a few comments on my first post. I asked a few friends to comment so that we could work out the bugs.
So I hope everything is running OK by now. Let's keep the conversation going! Mary

AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

Hello Angels of '58. We can use this blog to stay connected and pass on information during our Reunion year. Just leave a comment to be part of the conversation.