ROCKFORD—This year, Rockford Catholic high school graduates faced another group project, though it’s been over 50 years since they were in the high school classroom: How does one top last year’s “Grandest Reunion?”
In 2024, graduates of St. Thomas High School and Muldoon High School held this “Grandest Reunion,” a day for alumni of two of the Rockford Diocese’s first Catholic high schools to reconnect.
The catch was that the final classes graduated from those schools over 50 years ago. The first co-ed, then all-boys St. Thomas High School closed in 1962, and the all-girls Muldoon High School closed in 1970. It was a long shot.
Yet the organizers, by working with parish publications, got around 140 former students to come.
Now the reunion has entered its second year. This year’s Muldoon/St. Thomas reunion was held Oct. 4 at the Lombardi Club in Rockford.
And with around 200 attendees this time, the reunion was, in fact, even grander.
Msgr. Thomas Dzielak of the class of 1956 greeted all gathered and delivered a brief message, and then followed an afternoon of fellowship and reminiscing.
New this year was a continuous slide show that encompassed the history of the two schools. As they watched, many of the attendees could find fun photos of themselves as teenagers. An area for memorabilia also prompted much interest.
When all the graduates are guaranteed to be in their seventies, every guest is special. But a few stood out as members of long-ago classes, and one made a particularly long trek to attend. Betty (Doherty) Dutmer was the oldest attendee, from the class of 1946; she came all the way from Denver with her family. Next up were Carlo Rossi and Jackie Adams Dzik, both from the class of 1948.
Thanks to coverage by a local television channel, graduates who could not attend were able to follow along with the reunion and see their former classmates.
Plans are underway for next year’s reunion. The original planning committee was Kathy Baker, Sue Custer, and Tom Marinelli. To plan this year’s event, they were joined by many volunteers. Now two of them, Rosann Hawkinson and Missy Taphorn, will ensure the reunion tradition continues.
—Information provided by Kathy Baker and Sue Custer.
