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OCR
DID YOU KNOW?
I.
Did you know the RCHStSt. Patrick PadsWSt. John Evangelist Paristhur Mother
of Sorrow Parishland the Cathedral Parish connections. St. Patrick Parish was
Thomas E. Cahill’s parish all his life. The first eight students to register in 1890
were from St. Patrick’s Parish. The second Rector at Roman, Msgr. Hugh E.
Henry, attended St. Patrick’s Parish grade school.
The lSt Rector at Roman in 1890, Rev. Nevin F. Fisher, had studied for a year in
the Protestant Episcopal Seminary in Lancaster. He converted to the Catholic
faith several years later and began his studies for the priesthood at St. Charles
Seminary located at Broad and Race streets, a block below Broad and Vine. He
was ordained in 1886. In 1902 he was transferred as pastor to St. John the
Evangelist at 13”1 St., one-half block below Market Street, just three blocks from
Roman.
In 1906, Msgr. Fisher was appointed Pastor of Our Mother of Sorrows Parish
where he died in 1932 at the age of eighty-four (84). He was buried in the
cemetery next to Our Mother of Sorrows Church not far from the grave of
Thomas E. Cahill. Every year members of the Alumni and members of the Cahill
Club remember and honor our school founder and first Rector of Roman Catholic
High School with a memorial mass and visit to the grave to place a wreath on
each grave followed by a luncheon for the members.
The Cathedral is considered Roman Catholic High School’s parish church. For
many years the school has used the Cathedral for various school and religious
functions. The first Friday in June is Roman Catholic High School’s graduation
with Mass followed by graduation ceremonies. Every year since the mid 40’s, the
Roman Catholic High School Alumni Association Communion Breakfast has
been held in the Cathedral with as high as 2,000 of our 10,000 living alumni in
attendance. It has the largest attendance of the many various organizations that
use the Cathedral for their Communion Breakfasts. The collection at the Roman
Catholic High School Communion Breakfast is the largest collection of the whole
year for the Cathedral.
Did you know in 1993 Fr. Francis W. Beach, Rector at Roman Catholic High
School was among the first to petition the Archdiocese to convert Roman to the
new PresidenUPrincipal style of governing. Also in 1993, Roman was the first to
have a Board of Advisors. Since its beginning in 1993, the Roman Catholic High
Board of Advisors have been very active and effective and has made a
tremendous impact on the school and Alumni Association fundraising process.
The Board consists of twenty-four full board members, both Catholic and non-
Catholic. There are religious, one being Rev. Paul C. Brandt, PreSidenthector of
Roman Catholic High School. The other twenty-three members are successful
leaders of the business community. Ten of the twenty-five board members are
alumnus of Roman Catholic High School. In 1998 Dan DiLella ’69, one ofthe