Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, may be the head of the nation’s largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, but on Saturday night he was simply Roger again, one of Sister Jean Dolores’ many former students at St. Charles Grammar School in North Hollywood.
At a rare event—the 50th reunion of the eighth-grade class of l950—Mahony and 27 other classmates, now in their 60s, came to pay tribute to the 8l-year-old nun who taught them so many decades ago.
"I am not only proud of Roger and his twin brother, Louis, but proud of the others, too," Sister Jean Dolores said. "Each one seemed to have followed his or her own vocation [to make a contribution].."
Sister Jean Dolores, who flew in from Chicago for the event, said that seeing her former students made her feel as if the clock had been turned back.
"It makes me feel younger," she said. "It’s so wonderful to see them and hear what they’ve been doing. I had a great time with them. They were wonderful children. At St. Charles, we had a great community spirit."
Back then, she taught 75 eighth-graders in one class. The community surrounding the parish was full of young families and the school had 900 students, the largest parochial school west of the Mississippi, she said.
She left St. Charles in l96l for Chicago to teach at Mundelein College, a women’s school run by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but she has kept in touch with a good number of her students whom she considers her "children."
Mahony is one of them.
"She was fantastic," Mahony said of his former teacher. "I’ll tell you, there was absolute discipline and we learned."
Mahony said she is not only his mentor, but a wonderful friend.
"She was present at all the big events," Mahony said. She came to Fresno when Mahony was appointed a bishop in l975. She was in Los Angeles in l985 when she he was named the city’s archbishop and she was in Rome in l99l to see him become a cardinal.
The reunion of the class of l950 was unique in combining remembrances with tribute and gratitude.
It began with a Mass officiated by Mahony at St. Charles Borromeo Church, during which his classmates and teacher were recognized and applauded by parishioners. Mahony called Sister Jean Dolores "an outstanding teacher who tried to keep us under control."
During the hourlong Mass, nine members of the class who have died were remembered by name.
Of the 75 students in the eighth grade, 28 attended, accompanied by spouses and relatives. The whereabouts of the others are unknown, said Julie Campbell, a West Hills kindergarten teacher who organized the reunion.
Campbell began preparing for the reunion last October, when she learned of the two evenings when Mahony would be free to attend this year.
"We feel that the education we got at St. Charles followed through and affected our lives in a positive way," Campbell said.
At Saturday’s get-together, her daughter, Kathy King, music director at St. Mel Church in Woodland Hills played the harp as classmates socialized before dinner.
Patsy Ernest Wilber, a member of the class of l950 who had come with her husband, Bill, echoed the thought of many who marveled at how young and fit their teacher looked.
Sister Jean Dolores planned on leaving for home this morning to return to work as an academic advisor and a chaplain for the men’s basketball team at Loyola University. She also volunteers at a doctor’s office three days a week.
For many, the reunion in the old church building brought back many wonderful memories.
"We were married here 45 years ago," Wilber said. She described the place as "holy ground" because it was where so many of her classmates were baptized and had their First Communion.
During his homily, Mahony talked of being a disciple of Jesus Christ by opening one’s life to others.
"Our eyes and ears must be opened so that we see each other with clarity," he said. "Caring for one another is the very heart of the Gospel. All of the openness to others gives us insight to our own life’s journey."
Mahony called on the parishioners to be "instruments of healing, reconciliation and peacefulness."
Sister Jean Dolores said she couldn’t agree more with her former student’s message.
"St. Charles was like a ripple in a pond," she said. "It just keeps going and going. That’s what life is all about. A reunion like this lifts our spirits and also helps revive us."