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