Final Notes About the Closing of a School

I get letters from people asking me to write different things with my space here. I try to do what I can. If I can't do something justice, I pass the word to someone else that can do better than me. Sometimes I get notes from my Congressman, Joe Sestak. 

There are things that are beyond politics. This is one of them.


It is sad when a church or a school closes. Faded memories are reignited as the to-do list for closure is written.

Around Philadelphia, Catholic populations have been shifting for decades. Northeast Philly saw Cardinal Dougherty High School close. After the buildings have been stripped of their possessions, there are memorials to attend to. I am honored to pass the word on something like this.

Bill Eves committee chairperson for the Cardinal Dougherty Vietnam Memorial is looking for any family members of the 27 Cardinal Dougherty students that were Killed in Action in Vietnam.

The committee would like the family members to be part of the re-dedication ceremony on Nov 11. If anyone knows any of the family members please contact
Bill Eves via william.eves@dla.mil or
Bill Crean via williamcrean@comcast.net or william.crean@ally.com or call 856-461-6637.

These are the men who are the Cardinal Dougherty Killed in Action. If these names bring a memory or you know a family, please feel free to reignite a faded memory. Listed are the men by class and date of Taps.

Class:1960

• James P. Kelly 27-Sep-1965
• James M. Lynch 29-Jul-1967

Class:1961

• James J. Kline 14-May-1968

Class:1962

• Lawrence J. Bolger 27-Jun-1967
• John J. Gallagher 17-Dec-1969

Class:1963

• Michael F. Bingham 28-Jun-1966
• John J. Murphy 07-Jan-1967
• William G. Behan 10-May-1968
• Gerald J. Kelly 14-May-1969

Class:1964

• Charles L. Isley 20-Nov-1966
• William E. Lund 21-Mar-1967

Class:1965

• Thomas A. Duckett 02-Nov-1966
• Joseph H. Wilhelmi 10-Jun-1967
• Victor A. Spadaro 30-Jul-1967
• Thomas K. Lyons 01-May-1968
• Louis R. Lordi 17-May-1968
• Leo J. Mangold 03-Mar-1969
• Leo B. Smith 23-Mar-1969

Class:1966

• Herbert L. Farrington 01-May-1967
• Edward B. Spear 05-Oct-1968
• Michael J. Crescenz, M.O.H. 20-Nov-1968
• Michael P. Warner 21-Jun-1969
• Thomas J. Laughlin 13-Apr-1970

Class:1967

• Donald C. Wood 20-May-1968
• David C. Piotrowicz 15-Dec-1968
• Charles E. Diamond 02-Feb-1970
• James M. Reinhardt 13-Apr-1970