Attended Byzantine Church hall until St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School and Church built.
St. Vincent de Paul – 1964
Bourgade Catholic High School – 1968
“The daily spirituality of Catholic school was and is a dose of daily spiritual medicine needed to maintain a healthy soul! My husband and I worked hard to teach our children about God and give them the Catholic education that taught them to love Jesus and be good Christians. For these things, my life is a success story….”
My husband and I are cradle Catholics meaning we were raised Catholic from birth. I grew up in Arizona. But, I was the only sibling out of 7 to have received the gift of a Catholic education.
Together, my husband and I, raised 3 wonderful children.I had the incredible job of being at home with my children.I was a stay at home mother for 27 years, but worked part time during the holidays to assist my family financially too. Being a stay-at-home mother was a decision made for the betterment of our family as a whole. We firmly believed in raising our children in the faith and desired a Catholic education for our children too. Our three children attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glendale, St. Louis the King Catholic School, and Bourgade Catholic High School.
Afer my children graduated high school, I became an administrative assistant. I now also hold the joyful title of “grandma.” Our grandchildren have attended St. Jerome Catholic School and are now attedending Brohpy and Xavier College Preparatory. We also have another grandaughter in Colorado that graduated from a Christian University and is still living and practicing her Catholic faith everyday. PRAISE GOD!
What impact did Catholic schools have on you and your family?
Our entire family is practicing Catholic. That is very important to us. A Catholic education positively impacted all of us through quality academics to daily faithful teaching. Our love and joy for Jesus and weekly Masses with our school community were cherished. We enjoyed participating in different holidays, such as All Saints day where we dressed up as little Saints and Christmas concerts worshipping the birth of our Lord together. God was and is in every aspect of our daily lives and this was something we could share every day at school. My children learned how to care for others and their faith grew immensely becuase of Catholic Education. I believe that God and a Catholic education played a major role in their future success to go on to a higher education and still be practicing Catholics as adults. They are now following in our footsteps with their children and believe inthe importance of a Catholic education. It truly is AWESOME!
Why was the opportunity to attend Catholic School important to you?
The love and teaching of the 10 Commandments, the Holy Bible, the Saints, the Mass….I couldn’t put in any other words what the opportunity to attend Catholic school meant and still means to us. The daily spirituality of Catholic school was and is a dose of daily spiritual medicine needed to maintain a healthy soul! I know that my husband, our kids, grandkids and myself have been blessed beyond measure to have been chosen to attend Catholic schools and receive a faith based, quality education. Amen to Jesus!
Accomplishments:
My husband and I have been married 53 years, raised three children, were fortunate to care for our grandchildren, while their Dad was in the Army & while their Mom worked until they went to Kindergarten. We did attend some college, but the important job was raising our kids. Being a stay-at-home mother was important for our family too. Together, we maintained a healthy marriage, raised a child with a birth defect that came with many life challenges, and have instilled Christ in each member of our family. WE are proud parents becuase our children and grandchildren are good Christians. We worked hard to teach them about God and give them the Catholic education that taught them to love Jesus. For these things, my life is a success story….
Future plans:
We take each day as it comes. We have realized it’s great to plan for the future, but God’s way may be different from ours so we go with the flow. Future plans, however, would include staying on the Catholic faith, keeping my husband and family healthy in all ways, making sure our grandkids can continue to attend Catholic Highschool, and watching each of them graduate. We look forward to helping our grandchildren with their future plans too. Maybe, we could fit in a trip to Italy somewhere in between that!
