Leo Alumni Banquet 2015 -Leo Man of the Year Dan McGrath '68

The Lexington House is the Home of Leo ReUnion - Begun at the La Salle Hotel in 1955

                                  The 50 Year Jubilee Class of 1965

          My Buddies Bill Murphy, John Linehan and John "Moose" Gilmartin

                                               John Linehan and Chris Burris

      Man of the Year and His Bride -Dan and Joanne McGrath

                         Emerald Society Piper Calls the Classes In

           Leo Class of 1967 - Cousin Mike Hickey and Mitch Miller . . .Mike McCann

                               WWII Heroes Jack Schaller and Don Hogan

                              Piper Calls Up Hall of Fame Inductees

                Jack Hogan Stopped the Wermacht at the Battle of the Bulge in 1944

                                                                   Leo Jubilee Class of 1990

       Man of the Year Dan McGrath paid tribute to Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. & Leo 2012

Jim Corbett '52 was Leo's Left Handed Quarterback Who Mentored Hundreds of Lions

        The Foe Shall Feel the Lions Might and Spirit of Our Teams Attack!

TJ & The Cardinal 2012

Thomas(aka TJ) Ph------ has his arm around Cardinal George's shoulders in a 2012 photo I took celebrating the Cardinal's visit. Thomas is at college and Cardinal George is at home with Christ.

At Leo in 2010,  He was Thomas.  At St. Cajetan's, prior to admission to this rock of manhood on 79th Street, my daughter and her pals called their classmate TJ.

TJ?  Like he was right out of some Disney Afternoon Special and wore Bev Rat Northface clothing and accessories.

Thomas was what PC educators might call . . .willful.  Here at Leo, we'd say JUG fodder at best . . .usually a pain in the ass. It was during Thomas'  freshman year that my daughter informed me that one of her classmates from St. Cajetan grammar school, a largely white Catholic elementary school in Morgan Park, was attending Leo.

"Dad, do you know TJ?"

TJ?

"Yeah, TJ Ph-------!  He's real funny and was Jack Collins buddy"

I know a Thomas Ph------!  Wait.  Thomas, Mr. Y'all Street Ph-------is TJ?  TJ?"

That was all I needed.

I am, like Thomas aka TJ, a dedicated . . .pain in the ass. Like TJ. . .er Thomas, I needed an epiphany.  I got mine from Father John Gavin O.S.A. in 1966.  I was mopping the locker room as punishment for one of my recent academic, or social crimes and misdemeanors, when the red-headed athlete priest wandered in reading his Divine Office in full Augustinian habit.  He closed the breviary and smiled brightly, " Hickey, you know how you always are?"

" Yes, Father."

" Don't be that way."

With that, he opened his tract and walked quietly away.  I was a chang . . .modified man.

Thomas was bright, funny, tardy, absent and any where near an occassion of sin, In short, Thomas was for his freshman and sophomore years at Leo High School a typical Leo guy.  He was the diamond in the rough, the first draft, and unlicked cub, who, after several metaphorical lickings, chin wags with his elders and betters on his way to becoming a superior young man.

It helped to know of Thomas's BevRat sobriquet. The next day shouted out my friend Thomas in the act of 'just playing!'

TJ!

His blood went cold, in the manner of all men caught out in the hard truth of whom they really be.

" How you know that?"

"Clare told me. Well, Lookee here, White Boy!  You wear FUBU here and about, or do you really wear Northface, a rolled brimmed green White Sox Cap and watch Hannah Montana?  Man, it'd go hard on a gent who is all Cheef Keef and such."

"Please, Mr. Hickey don't let that get out. Man, I'm Thomas!

"And so it shall stay under the following conditions . . ."

You see, these kids need street cred, even though they are far from street.  Their families send them to Leo High School to avoid the street and all that it stands for, but the kids still need to get here from Roseland, Grand Crossing, Englewood and Canaryville.  They pass gang territories and need to put up a front. Or, they think that they do. All they need is to believe in themselves.

All they need to do is be a good guy. Respect women, the elderly, their faith, their traditions and the rules.

Thomas remained a scamp, but a great guy.  He was a fearless D-Back for the Lions and a great boxer and his GPA shot up to where it needed to be for college.

Watch Thomas on this video.  He is boxer in the dreds wearing black gear. BTW - Leo boxing coach Mike Joyce is a cousin of Cardinal George.



Thomas is a sophomore at Missou, now. After an epiphany, Thomas was on his way.

In 2010, he sidled up to Leo President Dan McGrath at an open house where eight white boys attended with their folks. " Mr. McGrath, we going to get all those white boys?"

President McGrath, replied, " Well Thomas, it won't be for lack of trying,"

" Good. This school needs some diversity!"

We got it. White boys and Mexican kids thickened the cultural stew at Leo High School and Thomas was the most open-handed greeter in his junior and senior years. He took the lead in making these urban pioneers welcome.

In 2012, Francis Cardinal George spent the day with the Leo gents.  We do not put on a dog and pony show.  Take us as we are! Cardinal George had a ball and graced our boys. Thomas plunged in to make Cardinal George as welcome as flowers of May.

Thomas is at college, but visits every time he is home.  Cardinal George is a home with Christ and visits Grace upon this wonderful school for tender-hearted tough guys. 

Beauty and the Priest - Leo Board Member Tamara Holder and Francis Cardinal George

 Great souls by instinct to each other turn,
Demand alliance, and in friendship burn;
A sudden friendship, while with stretched-out rays
They meet each other, mingling blaze with blaze.
Polished in courts, and hardened in the field,
Renowned for conquest, and in council skilled,
Their courage dwells not in a troubled flood
Of mounting spirits, and fermenting blood:
Lodged in the soul, with virtue overruled,
Inflamed by reason, and by reason cooled,
In hours of peace content to be unknown.
And only in the field of battle shown:
To souls like these, in mutual friendship joined,
Heaven dares intrust the cause of humankind. Joseph Addison The Campain (1704)

I took this photo of Cardinal George and lawyer, advocate, Leo Board member, Fox News Legal Analyst and easy on the eyes tough Jewish Chick, Tamara Holder in 2011 at Leo High School.

Tamara Holder no longer lives in Chicago full-time, because her talents require that she spend more time in the Big Apple, where she works for Fox News and runs a sports analysis site, as well make stand-up comedy appearances.  Tamara continues to offer legal, financial and marketing advice as a member of Leo Advisory Board.  Tamara is Jewish and proudly practices her faith.

In May of 2011, Francis Cardinal George became the first Archbishop of Chicago to visit the young men of Leo High School, since George Cardinal Mundelein blessed the corner stone this school on 79th & Peoria wing of the school in 1926.

Our Advisory board consisted of Irish and African American males blessed by God with talents and faces for radio, until Tamara accepted Leo President Dan McGrath and Board Chairman Bob Sheehy's challenge to serve.  Immediately our Board's looks improved.

Tamara meets Cardinal George:  in the backdground from the left Big Shoulder Fund Tom Zbierski, Advisory Board Chair Bob Sheehy and Leo Hall of Fame Alumnus and Teacher Bill Hession.

Cardinal George and Tamara took to one another immediately - both are very smart, honest and good-hearted persons.  Joseph Addison had it right - great souls by instinct to each other turm.

These pictures make me smile at a very sad time.

Leo Wins a Stunner Over Carver at the Robeson Sectional

My right side is beaten black blue having stood to the immediate left of Miss Aurora Latifi throughout the second half of one of the best basketball games I have ever witnessed.  Miss Latifi, Leo High School Math Teacher and Mother Lion, is most demonstrative.  Every shot that went up signaled a pummeling of my right shoulder, arm and wrist. 

The Lions played like . . .lions.  Here is Pat McGavin's report for the Sun Times.

Tuesday night, Leo saw the best and brightest and a future worth getting excited about.
Three Leo sophomores made vitally important plays. Emerging star guard Darius Branch scored 14 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter. All told, the Lions stormed back from an 11-point deficit to beat Carver 74-67 in a Class 2A Robeson Sectional semifinal.
“My team was counting on me, and I couldn’t let them down,” Branch said. “I just wanted to win so badly.”
Branch scored 14 of the Lions’ final 17 points. The only three points for which he did not directly account proved the difference. Sophomore Darias Oliver drilled a three-pointer with 1:12 remaining to push Leo to a 70-67 advantage.. . .The quick and explosive Branch scored 22 points in the second half as Leo (14-13) erased a 44-34 deficit midway through the third quarter. . . .( read more)

I wish I stood next to Terry Bates -  I will on Friday at Robeson for the Sectional Final. 

Leo High School - 2014 IHSA Basketball Regional Champions!

I got this report from Leo President Dan McGrath at 9:59 PM last night*.

"Beat Epic Charter 84-67. Little sloppy at the end but we played well. Sectional at Robeson beginning Tuesday. "

Congratulations to Coach Noah Cannon and the Mighty Lions!

*   I was absent from the game, due to my obligations as a covert operative tasked with checking the menu of a steak house in Forest Park, Il, in the company of an absolutely exquisite young woman of charms that can only be matched by the excitement of Leo men who witnessed the expoits of Coach Cannon's crew on the hardwood of Bowen High.

Tales of the South Side: I Really Do Not Know How to Respond to This

There I was, in my cubicle at Leo, waiting for the One o'clock meeting with the boys from J Walter Thompson. I twas going to be a good meeting. I like good meeting and really dislike when meetings go bad. I'm a Catholic school Development guy, I should know that things get dicey.

Dicier than a souse chef on bennies and ignored at Charlie Trotter's wake and a thiry year mortgage on three flat in the gold Coast.

The clock would not move. It stood still like the dame I asked to the Little Flower Homecoming Dance in 1968, when I was home from the seminary for weekend and didn't really go to Little Flower High School yet , because I was still in the seminary up in Holland Michigan.  Well, that skirt just looked at me like a clock standing still.  Then she moved real fast.  She was what we used to call a fast girl.  I can't run a lick,

So there I was loading data into the Excel Spreadsheets, when I decided to check my e-mails. The clock had moved.

There were nine, from Leo High School Alumni and twenty six ED ads that I deleted - not the Alumni, the Droopy Johnson ads.  I was all set to return messages about how I would get to them, like Mike '69 in Downers Grove who still had not received the thank you from me for the dough he sent in in December.  Missed that one.  And the other eight.  I missed them like a fat man misses Thanksgiving dinner at the cousins.

I was in the middle of my response to Mike '69 when another E-mail popped up.

Dear Hickey, I suppose you'll call this a confession when you hear it... Well, I don't like the word confession, I just want to set you right about something you couldn't see because it was smack up against your nose. You think you're such a hot potato as a claims manager; such a wolf on a phony claim... Maybe y'are. But let's take a look at that Dietrichson claim... accident and double indemnity. You were pretty good in there for awhile Hickey... you said it wasn't an accident, check. You said it wasn't suicide, check. You said it was murder... check.

Fred MacMurray

I went colder than that twist I asked out from Kenilworth - who went all haughty at Beni Hana's in the hibachi room when my big toe popped through my calf-length socks after I kicked off my wing-tip brogans.  I went cold.

 Something just was not right.

Fred MacMurray had three sons as I recall and like me was a widow man.  He lived in Kankakee,as did I.  MacMurray was a musician and I play guitar and 5-string banjo (C tuning).  Fred had been a nutty professor and I am in education yet.

My boss, Dan McGrath, hollered that we had a meeting.  I sat rigid at my desk.  Fred MacMurray.

He was not happy.  Fred MacMurray, not Dan McGrath. Dan is getting used to how I am.  Fred MacMurray obviously is not, or does not.   Man, it's cold. Colder than Fred MacMurray.

Atlantic Magazine Interview Bashing NYC Public Schools Uses Picture of Leo Catholic HS's Immaculate Halls at 7AM

Jim Young/Reuters Photo from 2012

Knowing my interest in inner city schools, a buddy of mine forwarded an interview appearing in the recent issue of The Atlantic.  The feature is an interview with a disgruntled NYC public school teacher entitled " It Feels Like Educational Malpractice." The interview is nice, but not exactly ground-breaking for anyone who has taught in a big city school.

It was a very poor neighborhood with a lot of English-language learners who knew little or no English. With poverty comes this condition called Toxic Stress. It explains why the children were so difficult to handle, needy, and so behind in learning. When your dad is in prison or your mom is on drugs, or your mom drank alcohol when you were a fetus, if you didn’t sleep the night before because you were allowed to play video games all night, or maybe there was a shooting, your cognitive ability is harmed. It rewires their brain so they’re unable to employ working memory, which is what you use when you’re learning. We’re charged with being the parents of these kids, being the friends, the mentors. Teachers are given all these social responsibility towards children that aren’t ours. It’s a failure of the system to address the poverty that creates the achievement gap.

Tell me about it.  Public schools can not do much about it. Catholic schools can and do.  I work at Leo High School in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood of Chicago.  Not NYC. What is interesting and kept my eyes darting up the page from the prose to the photo was . . .Jesus! That ain't a big Apple Public School!  That's Leo High School . . .right here on the south side!

About a year ago Reuters ( link up and enjoy the photos # 6 is the one The Atlantic features) did a very nice story written by Chicago veteran news person Mary Wizniewki. She was accompanied by a photographer and arrived at dawn of the Leo day for several days and soaked up how Catholic schools do what public schools can not and may not do.  We have a crucifix in every room of the schools, stained glass windows in the cafeteria offering a litany to Our Lady, and Catholic value based instruction.  Most students are not Roman Catholic.  All have been accepted at solid colleges and universities.

The thing that struck me most was the photo (above and linked) - that is Leo HS at about 7AM.  I am here between 4:30 and 5:00 AM daily.  Some guys arrive before I go out at 6:20 AM to pick up students in Bronzeville and Canaryville.  I open the doors, because Leo offers the most positive and safe hours of the day for our guys.

It is interesting that The Atlantic chose a photo of an inner city classroom and hall of a school built by Chicago Catholic parishioners in 1921 and opened in 1926 and still operating to help young men succeed on faith based path.

Funny no NYC public schools were featured.

The photographer must be the gent identified in The Atlantic piece. 

A Letter to the Leo Lions as They Strive Toward the Football Finals

Leo Men are a special breed. They live and breathe Courage and Commitment/Deeds Not Words.  They are always present, living and deceased; in the neighborhood, or around the globe.  Tomorrow the young Lions will face the Panthers of Lena-Winslow up at the top of the State of Illinois.  It will be fierce cold.

Warming the air will be hundreds of Leo Alums arriving in car caravans, or on the chartered buses leaving from St. Xavier University in Mount Greenwood at 10AM.  These brawny stalwarts packed the stands at each step the Lions' paws scratched toward the IHSA Class 1-A Football Championship.

At a crowded Father Perez Knights of Columbus Hall on Wednesday Night, Alumni Pres. Dan Stecich and the Alumni planned Saturday's trip up-state and to State.

This morning, I found an e-mail sent to President Stecich from a 1960 Leo Grad and West Point graduate.  Read this

From: Roger
Date: November 21, 2013 2:41:19 PM CST
To: Alumni President Dan Stecich
Subject: The LEO Game

I am writing from Richmond, Virginia and I wish that I lived close enough to join with you and other grads.  I would certainly be at the game.  If and when you have the chance, please tell the team and coaches just how proud I am of these LEO men.

In 1962, while a plebe at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, I sat a few yards from General Douglas MacArthur as he gave a speech about "Duty, Honor and Country."  On an earlier occasion, the General had written "Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that upon other fields on other days will bear the fruits of victory."  As with Leo men before them, the young men on this team will move on to careers and families with the strength of character formed with a Leo education and as strengthened on the playing fields.  

Good luck to them in the game and in life.

Roger W. Frydrychowski, Esq.
Leo Class of 1960
Richmond, Virginia

Facta Non Verba!  Go Lions!

IHSA Football Quarter Finals in Class 1-A: Leo v. Ottawa Marquette

St. Laurence High School, operated by the Irish Christian Brothers will host the Class 1-A Quarter Final game between Leo and Ottawa Marquette at 2 PM on Saturday November 16, 2013.After a great Leo Family Get-Together last Saturday at St. Rita's Pat Cronin Field featuring a win by the Lions over visiting Stark County 31-20, the Lions head to Burbank for the Quarter Finals. Generations of Hogans, Mahoneys, Coopers, Paynes, Halls, Torres, Garzas, Greens, Jacksons, Sheehys and McNallys followed Jay Standring in whatever cheer, chant or taunt he could shout out.  

If you did not run into a pal that you had not seen in decades, you must have had your eyes riveted to the action on the field.  Me?  I'm a rubber-necker.  I caught up with Ernie Kelly, Bud Monaco, Marquis "Biggs" Ball, Akim Hunter,  Johnny Vasi, Bob Quick, Jack McNamara, Wally Macaulay,the Brothers Hopkins: Jack and Tom, George Spearekis, Mike Gurgone,The Brothers Finn: too numerous to name, George Newell, Coach Jack Fitzgerald, Senator Ed Maloney, Father Bill McFarland, Standrings and Earners and McElligotts Oh, My!!!!


When I was not peeling off five-spots to Canaryville's own Duke Rusty Montana (2016), whom I drove to and from the game, and who eats like he's going to the chair, I made happy re- acquaintance with old friends.  We all look exactly the way we did in 1967,'68. '69, & '70 - at least through the lens of Leo High School and parish camaraderie ( VIZ, John 'O God, Sabina's, KillYuns, Sain Nicks, Big Weed, Tommy More ( too old to fight, or just mellowed?) R Lady a Moun'Carmel, Caj-uhtins, & da res').







Come out and watch the Lion, catch the Ottawa Crusaders in its brawny paws. .St. Laurence High School 5556 W 77th St, Burbank, IL 60459(708) 458-6900

Pat Elwood's Fox 32 Coverage of Francis Cardinal George's Blessing of Leo Buses

Here's the lede

Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

Here's the Heart

Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

Here's Our Newest Video Star

back row - Mike Joyce, Kimberly Hickey, front row, Amir Holmes, Francis Cardinal George ( undefeated) and James Davis
Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

Please NOTE - Mike " Pickle" Joyce, Esq. ( 10-1 Pro Boxing career) is the Leo Head Boxing Coach and bears no resemblance to Miss Kimberly Hickey* our Math Teacher and Leo Assitant Boxing Coach.

* Miss Hickey is not a relative of the this post-hole digger and has no relative in Local # 399 IUOE.

Join Cardinal George and Leo Lions for the Bus Blessing - Monday Oct. 28th 9:30 AM

Want to feel great on a Monday morning?  Start next week by joining the Leo High School Family as Francis Cardinal George blesses our new vehicles, purchased by the Leo Alumni!

Who -Archbishop Francis Cardinal George to Bless Buses of Leo High School

What – Cardinal George will bless the two new buses purchased by Leo High School following the very successful Leo Express to Opportunity Campaign, which was co-chaired by His Eminence and Mr. Sam Leno '63.

The Leo Buses in a Row

Mr. Byrd, President Dan McGrath and Fleet Management Chief for Leo HS Harold Green

 Mr. Byrd, the Leo Bus Man, approves the fleet and its seats

Al Krieg of Midwest Transit Hands Leo President Danan McGrath the keys

Mr. Byrd The Leo Bus Man!

Where – Leo High School – 7901 South Sangamon Street – Chicago , IL 60620 -The Alumni Parking Lot on Sangamon Street west of the school.

When – October 28th, 2013 at 9:30 AM
Contact – Mr. Par Hickey, Director of Development
(773) 224 -9600 ex. 208, or

For Leo Lion Linebacker Terron " Mr. Touchdown" Bell - Here's the Song I Mentioned

The Soul Bowl Champions - In the Maroon Shirt and Tie is Scholar Athlete Terron 'Mr. Touchdown' Bell.  Old # 59 snagged a pass intended for a Hales Franciscan Spartan receiver and carried the ball into the end zone!

Terron Bell -5-7, 252 | 40: 5.48 | Class of 2014

They always call him Mr. Touchdown;
They always call him Mr. T.
He can run and he can throw;
Just give him the ball and look at him go!
Hip hip hooray for Mr. Touchdown;
He's gonna beat em today;
So, lets give a great big cheer
for the hero of the year;
It's Mr. Touchdown, USA**. 

This song was originally posted at:
http://bussongs.com/songs/mr-touchdown.php

Broadcast Your High School Event LIVE – for FREE - from iPhone or iPad

*This song was written for Chandos "Pete" Young. He was named Mr. Touchdown USA in 1933 when he scored 128 touchdowns playing for Bluefield College in WVA.

The Loss of Another Happy Man: Kevin Flynn At Home With Christ

Susan and Kevin Flynn

The other morning I checked my cell phone which had been recharging over night.  I found four missed messages from my brother and the attendant voice mails. When a family member calls multiple times in short succession, it is never happy news.  " Pat, Mom took a fall.  We are at Palos (hospital),." my Mom had a knee and hip replacement over the last two years.  She is a very fit and healthy 87.

I was happy to learn that the fall damaged her right-side hip joint which was the God-given device and not on the artificial ball and joint left side, as artificial components tend to really damage bones and sinews.

Happy is the word.  Was her fall merely fortunate?

Now, I can't work a home improvement job without a gun to my head, but I can reach into the old reading tool box to try and sheet-rock life's pains . . .somewhat.  I have been reading Herodatus' Histories, since the 4th of July.  I went back over the encounter between Solon, a really smart Greek and Croesus a really rich Greek.   Solon was a visiting Athenian smart guy to the Sardian court of Croesus, who demanded that he was the happiest man in the world because he was the richest.  Solon argued that one can only determine another man's happiness upon death.  Solon held to the notion that Croesus was merely fortunate, lucky. Hey, You are really wealthy; that's nice. You are the king of Sardis, which is like being President of the United States, which is nice, but so what ?

The smart guy explained, " For in the course of long time a man may see many things which he would not desire to see, and suffer also many things which he would not desire to suffer. The limit of life for a man I lay down at seventy years: and these seventy years give twenty-five thousand and two hundred days, not reckoning for any intercalated month. Then if every other one of these years shall be made longer by one month, that the seasons may be caused to come round at the due time of the year, the intercalated months will be in number five-and-thirty besides the seventy years; and of these months the days will be one thousand and fifty. Of all these days, being in number twenty-six thousand two hundred and fifty, which go to the seventy years, one day produces nothing at all which resembles what another brings with it. Thus then, O Croesus, man is altogether a creature of accident. As for thee, I perceive that thou art both great in wealth and king of many men, but that of which thou didst ask me I cannot call thee yet, until I learn that thou hast brought thy life to a fair ending: for the very rich man is not at all to be accounted more happy than he who has but his subsistence from day to day, unless also the fortune go with him of ending his life well in possession of all things fair. For many very wealthy men are not happy, while many who have but a moderate living are fortunate;  and in truth the very rich man who is not happy has two advantages only as compared with the poor man who is fortunate, whereas this latter has many as compared with the rich man who is not happy. The rich man is able better to fulfil his desire, and also to endure a great calamity if it fall upon him; whereas the other has advantage over him in these things which follow:—he is not indeed able equally with the rich man to endure a calamity or to fulfil his desire, but these his good fortune keeps away from him, while he is sound of limb, free from disease, untouched by suffering, the father of fair children and himself of comely form; and if in addition to this he shall end his life well, he is worthy to be called that which thou seekest, namely a happy man; but before he comes to his end it is well to hold back and not to call him yet happy but only fortunate. Now to possess all these things together is impossible for one who is mere man, just as no single land suffices to supply all tings for itself, but one thing it has and another it lacks, and the land that has the greatest number of things is the best: so also in the case of a man, no single person is complete in himself, for one thing he has and another he lacks; but whosoever of men continues to the end in possession of the greatest number of these things and then has a gracious ending of his life, he is by me accounted worthy, O king, to receive this name. But we must of every thing examine the end and how it will turn out at the last, for to many God shows but a glimpse of happiness and then plucks them up by the roots and overturns them."

Kevin Flynn lived for forty-six years.  He was very fortunate.  His Dad, Donald F. Flynn, amassed what we would call a fortune. Kevin went to great Catholic schools ( Fenwick and Marquette University).  Married a beautiful and unspoiled woman, Susan.  Fathered four beautiful and unspoiled children. He could have lived for the next Bulls Skybox, VIP treatment everywhere, lorded his fortune and luck over his staff and generally lived the life that leads to scandal without consequence and dismissive self-satisfaction. That is Pagan stuff.
Herodatus too was a Before the Common Era Pagan, but wrote of God the Unchanged.  God the Unchanged is the same one we worship.  Kevin Flynn worship the Triune God through Christ with his short life.


Kevin Flynn did not live like a Celebrity Pagan.  Kevin Flynn picked up his father's Catholic moral tool-set and tried to make life better for those less fortunate than Kevin Flynn. One should be regarded as one treats people regardless of bank account, vocation or circumstance. A great person never needs to ask, " Do you know who I am?"  A great and happy person asks, " How can I help?"

Kevin asked to serve on Leo High School's Advisory Board after his his Dad went home to Christ.  The Leo Advisory Board is not sexy appointment.  With the sole exception of Tamara Holder, it is comprised of happy men who were schooled here on 79th Street in the values of giving back without the applause of Chicago Magazine, or WTTW.   The work of making a Catholic education a possibility for young men from Englewood, Gresham, Brainard, Grand Crossing, Bronzeville and Canaryville whose families are not financially fortunate is Herculean. The rewards are Olympian.

We received the news of Kevin Flynn's accident with all of the sadness attendant to a death in the family.  Kevin's devoted helper Linda Eichorn contacted Leo President Dan McGrath with this terrible news.  We know Kevin's wife Susan and the four children, especially the boys Donny and Brendan.  Moreso, we know Kevin's mother Beverly who not only had her love Don called home to Christ, but now her son.

We know loss.  Last year one of our freshman, Antonio Davis, was slaughtered by a thug shortly before the start of the school year.  Kevin was one of the first to call Dan McGrath to ask how he could help Antonio's family.  A few weeks later, senior Miles Turner was shot five times by another urban savage and struggled from a coma and heroically managed to stand once again, but remains confined to a wheel chair. Again, Kevin Flynn stepped up to help another suffering family.

Kevin Flynn was a happy man.  That he was fortunate enough to be wealthy was a matter of some consequence, I suppose.

He was happy in his family and in his work.  Kevin Flynn treated everyone with respect, dignity and manly concern, even those who tried and continue to demand to define him.   That is evident in the sadness, universal.

We live in an age where envy is somehow dignified by what passes for culture and politics.   Life is as precious to a fortunate family as it is to the more challenged of us.  Loss is as painfully evident in six and seven figure families as it is in working man's tribe. Kevin's father was a very happy man. Kevin Flynn learned to be a very happy man.  His sons and daughters will be helped by the loving family and friends of the Family Flynn to be happy persons.

My Mom is doing fine; she continues to be lucky, despite another hip replacement surgery, a fractured elbow and a fractured ankle. Mom is 87 years lucky and happy. Kevin Flynn was 46 years happy.

Leo High School “The LION Express To Opportunity” Safe Here & Safe Home

                             Leo Lion Sam Leno, a back of the yards kid from the Class of 1963, has crafted this great campaign to beef up Leo's ability to get Young Lions to and from school - Facta Non Verba!

                                       

“The LION Express To Opportunity”

                                                               Safe Here & Safe Home

Goal

Establish a safe,

reliable, modern

school bus system

for students who

have no other

transportation

options, to get

to/from school and

home, as well as

to/from school

events.

As the city and neighborhoods began to change, public

transportation became less reliable and less safe.

Leo High School desperately

needs our help!

Dear Leo Alumni, friends and family,

As you know, attending Leo has contributed significantly to

providing each of us a strong foundation of integrity,

discipline and sound moral values, molding us into the men

that we are today. While our backgrounds are varied, we

have all successfully transitioned from young boys to good

husbands, fathers and grandfathers. Thanks to the

commitment of the Irish Christian Brothers, as well as

countless lay-teachers, we were all blessed with the

opportunity to enjoy an outstanding education grounded in

our faith in God.

Throughout the years, most of us got to school either by

walking or riding city transportation. However, as the city

and neighborhoods began to change, public transportation

became less reliable and less safe. Many other Catholic

High Schools added their own bus transportation over the

years, but unfortunately, Leo did not. As a result of this

and other less significant factors, enrollment has decreased

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Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016

We are all part of an important legacy and now we have an opportunity to keep that legacy

alive by helping Leo help itself. A modern and effective transportation program will:

--‐ provide much improved recruiting initiatives and results by being able to expand its

geographic reach

--‐ increase the school’s enrollment numbers, providing increased tuition proceeds

--‐ provide the means for Leo leadership to address many of its other facility needs, making

the school even more desirable potentially increasing enrollment even more

The “bottom line” - This campaign “The LION Express To Opportunity”

Safe Here & Safe Home will provide the money necessary to materially increase the

number and quality of its buses and become the “gift that keeps on giving!”

Many of you have been strong supporters of Leo with your donations over the years.

However, given the importance of this specific need, which is vital to the future of the school, I

am praying that each of you will join me and others who are reaping the benefits of having

attended Leo High School, in making a 1 time donation to this unique enrollment expanding

initiative. It is a meaningful way for us to "give back" and help students, much like us when

we were high school age, receive an education like no other.

LEO HIGH SCHOOL DESPERATELY NEEDS OUR HELP

from over 1200 at its peak, to about 160 today. This is sad to see,

especially when the school offers so much good and hope to young

men trying to make a difference in their lives by receiving a quality

education, excellent values and spiritual guidance.

The single most significant factor preventing Leo from increasing its

enrollment is it’s inability to compete with other Catholic High Schools

that do supply transportation to students who have no other means of

getting to/from home and school, as well as to/from student events.

Leo has as much to offer its young impressionable students today as it did when we all

attended, but the single biggest concern expressed by the parents of prospective students is the

need for the school to supply safe, reliable transportation for their children.

In spite of its transportation limitations, Leo has been successful at recruiting many outstanding

students and student athletes who excel and compete successfully against much larger schools,

both Public and Catholic. Imagine how much more successful they could be if they could

enhance their recruiting efforts through a vital transportation program?

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Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016

Alumni Quote

LEO HIGH SCHOOL DESPERATELY NEEDS OUR HELP

Here are some of the specifics:

“The LION Express To Opportunity”

Safe Here & Safe Home

O Goal: Establish a safe, reliable, modern

school bus system for students who have no

other transportation options, to get to/from

school and home, as well as to/from school

events.

O Needs: 2 large school buses and 3 to 4

mini-vans

O Why: Materially improve new student

recruiting initiatives and significantly expand

the size of Leo’s student body every year.

O How: Create a targeted and highly visible

“special campaign” by soliciting 1 time

donations from Alumni and “Friends of Leo

High School”

O Target: Raise $300,000

O When: over the next 30 days

O Involvement: Alumni, student body

and key faculty members

“Looking back retrospectively at

the foundational experience

provided by Leo and the Irish

Christian Brothers, my high

school experience played a

pivotal role in molding me into a

better human being in almost

every respect. The education,

values and discipline instilled by

brothers Sloan, McCabe, Beyer,

McDermott, Acker, Miller, Shea,

Nash, Martin, Coogan,

Castellanos, McDonough,

McKenna, Ryan and the other lay

teachers, taught me how to make

a meaningful difference in my life

and expand my experiences well

beyond the South Side of

Chicago. The Leo experience

helped me become and be a

better Naval Officer, a more

effective businessman, a better

father and husband.”

The school has created a separate bank account for

these donations to ensure that all donations are used for

the explicit purpose of creating a small fleet of student

buses as described above. If you’d like discuss this

initiative or receive any additional information, please

call (773) 224-9600 and ask to speak with either Dan

McGrath, President of Leo High School, or Pat Hickey in

the Development Office.

We will keep all of you informed of the success of this

program by posting updated results at the Leo Website:

http://www.leohighschool.org

Please make your donation checks payable to:

Leo High School – The Lion Express to Opportunity

Mail your donations to:

Leo High School

Attention: Dan McGrath, President

7901 S. Sangamon St.

Chicago, IL 60620

No matter how much you are able to give, Leo

will benefit greatly from your sincere generosity!

Gratefully yours,

LEO HIGH SCHOOL DESPERATELY NEEDS OUR HELP

GO LIONS !!!