Reunion Mass

The first joint activity scheduled for the reunion weekend was a Mass for classmates, family, and friends, celebrated by Father Richard Perl, S. J. at Fordyce Chapel on St. John’s College campus on Saturday at 5:00 PM.

Attending

Francisca Pook, née Sutherland; Iola Ellis, née Nicholas; Josephine Fraser, née Velásquez; Judith Bodden, née Usher; Linda McCarthy-Remkes; Manuela Scott, née Hernández; Olga Barber, née McFadzen; Ruth Garbutt-Tillett; Shirley Card, née Waller; Therese Casey, née Engelton; Victoria Codd, née Day; Vincent Neal, née Gill

Our special guest was Derick Gongora’s sister and SCA graduate Linda Lewis.

Ann Wiltshire, née Alpuche; Antonieta Cardona Martínez; Carli Scott; Christine Heusner Robinson; Eloisa Bradley; Ester Heusner, née Hernández; Gloria Saldano, née Atkins; Ina Retreage, née Boyd; Ivy Leslie-Blease; Jennifer Neal, née Brown; Joyce Perdomo, née Gough; Ligia Alpuche, née Gómez; Lydia Balderamos Loskot; María Scott, née Villanueva; Minerva Gordillo de Maldonado; Rita Stuart, née Young; Rosilia Ordóñez, née Vega; Ruby Vásquez; Veronica Jones, née Usher

Adrian Roe, David Alamina, Derick Gongora, Francisco Allen, Gary González, Gowayne Bradley, Gustavo Dubois, Hugo Vásquez, José Perera, Juventino (Jay) Cruz, Louis Robateau, Marsden Skeen, Roger (Rogie) Rodríguez, Roy Young, Stan Martínez, Vicente Vernon, Wayne Espat

Our special guest was former SJC teacher Rafael Reyes.

Renewing Acquaintances

By 5:00 PM, the doors to the chapel were still closed, so the reunion crowd gathered outside. This gave us time to exchange greetings and hugs with friends of old and to meet the husbands, wives, brothers, sister, sons, daughters, and friends who had accompanied them.

The reason for combining the reunions from three schools is that most of us have good friends who attended the two other schools. As more people collected, we saw classmates from high school and elementary school as well as friends, neighbors, and playmates from our childhood.

Although the afternoon was hot and still and the mosquitoes were out in force, the gathering was lively. In response to the sights of flashing cameras and the sounds of laughter and exclamations of surprised recognition, heads turned constantly, as we tried to capture the entire event.

Assembling

When the chapel doors opened, the group gradually moved inside to find the chapel beautifully decorated with several arrangements of white and yellow flowers. As people continued to file in, Father Perl made a point of going around between the pews and introducing himself to as many of us as he could. Someone brought out missals to pass around. Some of the SJC alumni scurried around looking for fans. Although their search was successful, it was in vain because the power was off at the nearby outlets.

Mass

The Mass was an opportunity for more serious reflection about our reunion. It was a time for us to be thankful that we were able to attend the reunion; a time to be thankful that we have the strong and long-lived friendships that made us want to attend; a time to remember classmates who were unable to attend because of health or financial difficulties, family emergencies, prior commitments, or family or business obligations; a time to remember classmates whose addresses we haven’t found and who might have attended the reunion had they known about it.

Father Perl introduced himself to the group. He had come to SJC as a scholastic in 1970, after we had graduated. He told us that, because he is roughly our contemporary, he could relate to our enthusiasm for getting together with friends from 30 years ago. Father Perl chose themes for the Mass that were particularly fitting for our reunion: friendship, working together, and helping our fellow human beings.

Father Perl made everyone feel included, asking for a show of hands from the Class of ’69 of each of the three schools in turn; then for families of the classmates; then for those who has traveled from the US, from Mexico, and from various other countries.

A representative of each school played an active roll in the Mass; readings were given by Rita of SCA, Vincent of PHS, and Vincente of SJC. Antonieta led the singing of several old hymns, familiar from our high school days. (Good thing, too, because there were not enough missals to go around and some had to rely on memory for the words to the hymns.)

Parting

After the Mass, classmates and friends milled about, greeting those they had not seen before. Some stayed in the chapel to talk to friends, some moved outside to talk. Members of the SJC Class of ’69 gathered inside for a group photo.