As a proud member of the first class to graduate from Schlarman High School in 1949, I am privileged to reflect on what this fine school has meant in my life. All those years ago the education that SHS provided spoke to us intellectually as well as spiritually. This continues today. In 1945, as WWII was ending and uncertainty reigned in the Danville community, the parents and religious of the area made unheard of sacrifices to establish Schlarman. Their dedication to the value of a Catholic education was a sterling example to emulate during my lifetime. I referred to it often. Having a faith-based education has been for me like placing the mortar of faith solidly between the bricks of learning. I left Schlarman firmly rooted in academics and religion. My years at this school anchored my life - and still does. My gratitude is ongoing...

Mary Jane O’Rourke Brady, SHS Class of 1949

Foundations and Obligations

Few who read this will know the name Dave Giacone, and even fewer will understand why I remember him. But let me try to explain. Dave was a member of the Schlarman High School class of 1965. and a friend of mine "by coincidence". Someone once wrote: "Events of coincidence and chance often prove to be more consequential in life than our most carefully planned actions." My friendship of coincidence with Dave turned on the simple circumstance that our lockers were near one another. having been assigned in alphabetical order. And so it began. not a friendship that had roots outside of the halls of high school. but one borne of good-natured conversation and kidding--- often while jostling at our lockers for books between classes. Dave was from St. Mary's in Westville and I was from St. Paul's. so our circle of friends outside of school was quite different and remained so. Nonetheless. he was my friend and I enjoyed our banter and ribbing--¬talking about all the things that high school boys enjoy. There was also something terribly genuine about Dave---a characteristic that now seems very fleeting and rare, and perhaps missing in my own.

Dave Giacone passed away in 1977 at the age of 29. I remember my mother sending me a clipping about his death while I was working in New York City as a young lawyer. Quite frankly, except for seeing Dave a couple times during my summers back in Danville during college. I did not have the occasion to think of Dave much before his death. We still knew one another. but the setting of our friendship was gone as we both moved from the halls of high school to the next stages of our lives. But ever since his death, for reasons only recently more apparent to me, I thought of him quite often and without particular provocation. Often my thoughts of Dave led to some other memory of high school---a constructive thought from a teacher, a particular accomplishment, or a poignant remark by a classmate. But the immediate thought was always of Dave Giacone. I was not sure why. At first. I believed that my memory of him simply reflected my befuddlement over death: "Why had he died so young? Why him?" And so it went for 33 years, frequent remembrances of his name triggered by no apparent reason.

Recently. in 2010. my younger brother passed away. His wife, also a Schlarman alumnus, had saved a number of clippings and articles about Schlarman High School. Following his memorial service. I went off to a corner and read those materials, and Dave Giacone's memory flashed again. I then finally realized why the memory of Dave had been so prominent in my life: it was because my simple recollections of Dave Giacone were a window into what I had experienced at Schlarman High School and the foundation of values that were provided to me as a student. Dave was the guy with the locker next to me---impressionable and impressive---an easy guy to like; but our friendship developed in a setting that had far more consequences and implications for me than the mere interactions of two high school boys whose lives intertwined in the same high school corridors for four years. In my case. Dave's death was an event---perhaps another coincidence in time like our friendship of coincidence---that made me appreciate experiences. accomplishments and values, although it took me many years to fully recognize that appreciation.

Schlarman High School has been only part of my life experience. It was certainly not the only experience that influenced me. But, it was--- upon reflection--- far more meaningful than I ever understood as I made my way through life. My life's good fortune has unquestionably been affected by what I learned as a student at Schlarman . and perhaps most significantly by the discipline that I learned. For others who have passed through Schlarman High School, the significance of that experience may be quite different and other values more prominent. I suspect, however, many of the alumni of the past 60 years have. in fact, enjoyed the type of success in life and family that surely was intended by our parents who, in many cases, sacrificed to send their children to Schlarman.

In 2009. my class, the class of '65. had the second highest total class contribution to Schlarman High School---but it was a very modest $2210, as noted in the recent Development Office solicitation for 2010 contributions. Indeed. the average contribution per class was only $554 in 2009. It strikes me that we can all do far better, as part of our obligation to increase financial support for an institution that affected us in ways that perhaps only now become more apparent. Present and future students should be able to receive the same type of foundation in values that Schlarman High School provided to its graduates of the past 60 years. and it would be a shame for that not to occur due to financial limitations. In describing generosity, Winston Churchill said it best: We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."

I have never found the time to attend a class reunion, and perhaps never will. But I will find the time to continue to remember Dave Giacone and appreciate the significance of the coincidence of our friendship. And this year. I will send two donations to Schlarman High School---one for me. and one for Dave Giacone.

Signed: Dave's friend/Class of '65