Joe Simiana Dances with Lorna Harris

Student Joe Simiana dances with girls gym teacher Lorna Harris at the Halloween Dance in 1970.

On Hiatus -- Travelling

Unfortunately it's back to planes, trains and automobiles for your pilot of posterity, your nabob of nostalgia, your rimestock of reminiscence, your merchant of memories, and your ipsographer of images.

I am an airgonaut again --travelling on business, and I should be back to these pages in a few days time once I sort out a regular internet connection. See you with more OCHS memories on the flip side.

Christmas Dance 1965

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These are snapshots of the Christmas Dance, 1965. Did you jive in 'Sixty-Five? I'd say that the odds of a date were pretty good. There were 5 boys in the class and 15 girls. As the Beach Boys said "Three girls for every boy'. However there are 9 boys in the group photo, so help must have been enlisted. Seems to be a lot of slow dancing going on. Those must have been the days.

Some Teachers from 1970

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Going left to right, top to bottom:

Mr. Callendar, Sister Adelarde, Mrs. Barnett, Mr. Arthurs, Mrs. Bambrough, Sister Mary Angela, Miss Harris, Mr. Chai, Sister Conrad, Mr. Cole.

Ourselves, and our teachers, back then we were young and we were kings.

The Rest of the 1966 Student Body - Grade 9X

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This is the last of the entire student body of 1966, the first year that the OCHS yearbook was published.

One notable face in the very last picture in the bottom row is Debbie Michelli who is now Debbie Pankhurst and is still teaching at Dwyer.

Gary Ranalli ~ 1972

French teacher Gary Ranalli was one of the more flamboyant teachers at OCHS in the early 1970's. He taught me French, and I enjoyed the way that he moved the classroom outdoors under the trees in the warm months.

The March of the 1966 Grade Nines Continues

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The very first OCHS yearbook in 1966 showed the trends of increasing numbers. The Grade 12 class was the smallest, but the Grade Nine numbers were blooming like mushrooms after a rain storm.

Sister Conrad Having Tea with Colonel R.S. McLaughlin

Colonel R.S. McLaughlin, the founder of Canadian General Motors was a great friend and benefactor of the school. He provided money for the first band instruments, and he endowed the school with the R.S. McLaughlin awards for academic excellence. I am the benefactor of those awards, and the money came in handy when I won it.

The friendship was based on Col. Sam's (as he was universally known) friendship with Monsignor Paul Dwyer. They were neighbours in Oshawa. Maureen Moloney has been in touch with the Parkwood Estate archivist, and she mentioned that Col. Sam's mansion had a room upstairs with "Catholic Stuff" in it, which was probably Monsignor's doing.

In this picture, Sister Conrad is having tea with Colonel Sam.

Continuing with the series ~ 1966 Grade Nines

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Continuing with the series of the very first yearbook from 1966, this is half the Grade 9Y class. I recognize some of the names in this series.

The Girls In My Class

Without a doubt, my class had the prettiest girls in it ever, at OCHS. Pictured here in English class are some of them: Sharon Clark, Barb Finley and Cheryl Kelleher.

Final Bunch of Grade 10's From 1966

This is the final bunch of Grade 10's from the very first OCHS yearbook in 1966.

The Series: Grade 10Z from 1966

Continuing the series of the very first OCHS yearbook, here is Grade 10Z. As usual, click for larger images. I chopped the photos in half to get better page resolution.

Tony Seaver Causing Trouble at the Dance

Tony Seaver was a mischievous practical joker who was always energized. Here he is shown causing some sort of commotion at a dance. I believe the band on the stage is Wednesday.

Grade 10W From 1966

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Continuing with the series from the very first yearbook of OCHS, this is Grade 10W from 1966.

Dancing Teachers 1970

He was just plain old Tony Meagher at a school dance in 1970. He would later go on to become Father Tony, Monsignor Meagher and Bishop Meagher. In 1970, he was kicking up his heels with girls gym teacher Lorna Harris at a school dance.

Monsignor Dwyer's Role in the Formation of the School

Pictured above is Monsignor Dwyer in 1966 attending the dinner when the Junior Theresians of OCHS got their charter. This photo was snapped after the dinner. Note the salt and pepper shakers on the table, and tea has already been served. In addition, note the dude with the pipe sitting beside the principal. Times have really changed. Having a trash fire that close to a nun wouldn't be tolerated today.

Maureen Moloney compiled the following about Monsignor's contribution to the school for the history document:

Monsignor Paul Dwyer’s Role in the Creation of the School

Monsignor Paul Dwyer’s role in the development of the first Catholic high school can not be stressed enough. It was through his vision that the school became a reality. The first yearbook (1966) was dedicated to Monsignor expressing “sincere thanks for his help and encouragement during these beginning years”. His passion, resources and determination laid the foundation for having a school where faith would be taught and students could absorb lasting spiritual and moral values.

As Pastor of St. Gregory’s Parish for 24 years, (serving as a priest for 53 years), Monsignor worked diligently toward this goal. In 1962 he worked with the Oshawa Separate School Board to open St. Joseph’s High School. Before the school outgrew itself, he was already assisting the Sisters of St. Joseph in establishing the new school, O.C.H.S. at the corner of Rossland and Stevenson Roads. His vision for Catholic education was on-going.

Monsignor took on many practical roles during the early years, including giving great financial assistance. He assumed the cost of the Grade 11 portable at St. Joseph’s when construction of O.C.H.S. was delayed by a year. He obtained 27 acres of land for the new school. Using his powers of gentle persuasion, through friendship with his neighbour Col. R.S. McLaughlin, funds were donated to purchase instruments so that O.C.H.S. could have a band. The cheque from Col. McLaughlin for $10,000 arrived quickly in May 1966. Monsignor’s contributions were vast and varied.

He was a highly visual presence at the original school, St. Joseph High School, as he was the local parish priest at St. Gregory’s. He participated in graduations at O.C.H.S., conferring diplomas to the graduates. His last visit to O.C.H.S. was for the 1975 June graduation when he told the graduates, “My dream has come true, thank God.” A few months later Monsignor Dwyer died. The Sisters of St. Joseph originally wanted the new school named after him in 1964, but out of humility he would not accept the honour. Monsignor had responded, “Not in my lifetime.” Oshawa Catholic High School became an interim title. The Sisters had to wait another 12 years to name the school after their first choice.

INFORMATION ABOUT PAUL DWYER

• was born 1898 in Parry Sound

• had 5 sisters and 2 brothers (one sister was a nun)

• graduated from St. Michael’s College in Toronto in 1919 with a Bachelor of Arts degree

• was accepted into the Irish College at the University of Rome and spent four years before graduating with a Doctorate of Sacred Theology in 1923

• was ordained March 17, 1923 (St. Patrick’s Day)

• was posted to St. Mary’s parish in Welland for 8 years and then was the headmaster of Greygables (a private boys school in Welland) for the next 10 years

• in 1941 he became a Royal Canadian Air Force Chaplain serving in England and Canada (in 1945 he was the Command Chaplain of Eastern Canada)

• when first arriving in Oshawa there were only 12 rooms available for Catholic students and 2 churches (St. Gregory’s and Holy Cross)

• was Pastor of St. Gregory’s church for 24 years (1949 – 1973)

• was named a Domestic Prelate to Pope John XXIII and was made a monsignor in 1961

• was a founder of Oshawa’s 30 member church council in 1968

• was an ardent curler and golfer

• was involved with many civic organizations including: Children’s Aid society, Red Cross, Boy Scouts, Oshawa Men’s Hostel Services, Knights of Columbus, P.T.A.s, Daughters of Isabella…..

• was an advocate for many immigrants, counselling them and making them welcome in their new community

• was at the cornerstone laying of a United Church, spoke in a Synagogue and at Masonic meetings

• for his holidays he would go to Rome and had audiences with five Popes

• he ‘retired’ at age 75 in 1973 – the anniversary of his 50th year in the priesthood

• died March 19, 1976 at Oshawa General Hospital and is buried at St. Augustine seminary in Scarborough

• Archbishop Philip Pocock concelebrated the funeral mass

• Oshawa city’s flag flew at half mast on the day of his funeral

The Grade 10's of 1966

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As a salute to the 50th Anniversary of the school, clips of the first yearbook of OCHS in 1966 are being posted. This is the grade 10 class of 1966 -- the first bunch of photos. More to come.

Latin Coles Notes

Maureen Moloney was cleaning out her classroom (Graham See's old classroom) and found this Cole's Notes primer on Latin. It obviously belonged to the school because someone took the trouble to inscribe the school's name on it. The copyright on the book is 1959 but that doesn't mean anything because some of the prose in the book was originally copyrighted in 59 AD. My guess is that it belonged to a Latin teacher who had to teach it but was a little rusty. So far, the Coles Notes for pig Latin is still missing.

I took Latin in high school. Does the school even teach Latin now? It's been a dead language for thousands of years, and it isn't very handy to know Latin any more. Before, you would know the etymology of words, but now it doesn't help you with words like LOL. It was useful back in the day though. A daily reminder was "ablutionis retro articularis" -- wash behind our ears.

Here are some handy Latin phrases:

Semper ubi sub ubi ~ Always wear underwear.

Caesar adsum iam tuit. Cicero adarat. ~ Caesar had some jam to eat. Cicero had a rat.

And we all know: illegitimi non carborundum

Halloween Dance 1971 ~ Interesting Side Bar

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I was electronically leafing through my images on this large HP monitor that I have, and came across some more Halloween dance pictures from 1971. I had the slide show feature enabled that allowed the stored images to be presented as a slide show. With the big screen, I could see what was happening in the background, and I immediately noted the interesting little sidebar to the right of this picture in the background. I've enlarged it for you amazement, amusement and edification.

Do you remember tenuously holding hands at the high school dance? Now isn't this cute? How long do you think that they have been married for? Do you remember being on a date, and suddenly realizing that the other person is really not that in to you? Why is she holding his hand with two hands? From the look on her face, it probably isn't romantic ardour. These are all questions only to be answered by the Pompatus of Love. Anyone recognize the students?

Update: Ian Mulgrew and Susan Dalby. Love is blind but the camera ain't.

A Reader Who Graduated in 2007 Writes:

A reader writes:

The blog is kind of cool, but you have just older pictures. You don't have any of the recent history of the school.

I graduated in 2007.

Thanks for your comment. This blog started out as a place to put my own pictures online from the hundreds of negatives from pictures that I took while a member of the photo club in high school during the 1970's. It has since grown since then -- especially with the upcoming 50th anniversary of the school. ( Please visit the website -- http://www.pauldwyer50th.com/ ).

2007 huh? Then I have neck ties that are older than you. However, I did find a pic of Dwyer students from 2007 online so I will post it just for you:

Monsignor Paul Dwyer Grade 10 students Barbara Stadnik and Emma Kelly get a helping hand from their science teacher Sabine Cahill before launching the rocket that they made a part of the course's physics unit. (Photo by Jessica Verge / The Oshawa Express)

Final Tranche of 1966 Grade 11's

This is the last group of 1966 Grade 11's at OCHS. You can see that as you get lower in the grades, the numbers start to climb.

Top: Betsy Lamers, Richard Zukowski, Regina Gardzinski, Tom Pryde, Barb Gibbs

Middle: Jack Coros, Suzanne Weeks, Barry Breen, Boudien Witteveen, Mike Driscoll

Bottom: Jeff Jubenville, Sharon Knox, Nancy Nichols