Elyria Catholic High honors alumni
NorthCoastNOW
LORAIN — Each year, the alumni of Elyria Catholic High School gather to recognize the great achievements of some of their own.
This year, the 11th annual ECHS Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame Dinner will be no different, as five graduates will be inducted into the 2009 Hall of Fame. They are two longtime local educators, a community philanthropist who loves local libraries, a local hero who will be posthumously honored and an EC sports legend.
They will join 22 fellow EC graduates who have also had their accomplishments celebrated since the ECHS Alumni Association began honoring former classmates.
“As EC continues to serve the educational needs of the Christian community throughout the area, it is only appropriate that we look to and recognize how some of our graduates, educators and volunteers have provided positive role models for today’s students,” said Chris Kish, president of the ECHS Alumni Association. “The Hall of Fame annually installs a distinguished alumnus, an outstanding educator and an exceptional service honoree who has contributed significantly to society and who has provided a positive role model to our students.”
The 2009 Hall of Fame induction will be May 14 in the Grand Room of Lorain County Community College’s Spitzer Conference Center.
Registration will begin at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m. and awards at 7 p.m. The cost is $26, and the event is open to the public.
Reservations can be made by calling (440) 365-1821, ext. 22 or 34, and will be accepted until Thursday.
This year’s honorees are:
Barbara Diedrick (Distinguished Alumni)
Barbara Diedrick, class of 1952, was in the first four-year graduating class at Elyria Catholic High School. She went on to the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati to earn her teaching degree. She spent the next 42 years as an elementary school teacher at St. Mary School in Elyria.
She touched many children’s lives, and it has been calculated that she taught more than 1,000 children throughout her career. Diedrick and her husband, Tom, have six children, all EC alumnae.
Along with her husband, she began a bingo program in the late 1970s to help keep ECHS open. She has served on several ECHS committees over the years. Diedrick is also a Eucharistic minister and greeter and, even after retirement, works as a cafeteria employee at St. Mary’s.
Richard Mole (Distinguished Alumni)
Richard Mole, class of 1960, is a certified public accountant who relocated his practice to Andover, in Ashtabula County, in 1982. He volunteered for the local library and his church, developed several civic improvement and charitable organizations, and funded a youth baseball league. Mole has served on the Andover Library’s Board of Trustees since 1983. He led the library’s capital campaign, the first ever in the village’s history.
As past president and now treasurer of the Andover Community Improvement Corp., Mole also helped raise funds for and coordinate the building of a recreation complex. The complex is used by individuals and sports leagues from all over Ashtabula County. He served 10 years on the county’s Community Development Corp.
Mole also established the Andover Community Foundation, which has funded annual scholarships, the renovation of a high school track and a redesign of the town’s central park. For the past 17 years, he has been the volunteer coordinator for the Country Neighbor Program, which provides tax counseling and preparation services for low-income people and the elderly.
In 2006, he received the Public Service Award from the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Dave Davies (Distinguished Alumni)
Dave Davies, class of 1975, was affectionately known as the “Commander” for his take-charge style.
He may best be remembered for his work with Habitat for Humanity, overseeing the construction of a home in Elyria. He also used his vacation time from the city of Elyria to help with Operation Open Heart, a weeklong event dedicated to helping wards of the courts.
Davies was a member of St. Jude Church, served as an usher and past president of the Holy Name Society and was named Holy Name Man of the Year in 1994. He was also a 1997 graduate of Leadership Lorain County.
He served as a trustee for Operation Open Heart and was a member and past chairman of the Board for Lorain County Children Services, past Grand Knight of Elyria Knights of Columbus 774, past Faithful Navigator of the Fourth Degree and former District Deputy.
He was Cleveland Diocese Knight of the Year for 1984-85 and 1999-2000.
Davies lost his battle with cancer earlier this year.
Sister Margaret McGovern (ECHS Outstanding Educator)
As a teacher in the 1950s, she was instrumental in the creation of Friendship Day, which has been expanded to Friendship Week, now a tradition at Elyria Catholic. She returned to Elyria Catholic as principal from 1974-79. During that time, Sister Margaret assembled a team of four couples to explore the opportunities of establishing Silver Dollar Bingo. It continues to be a significant source of funding for EC to this day.
Lou Rotunda (Exceptional Service Award)
For more than 50 years, Lou Rotunda has been known by many simply as “Mr. Elyria Catholic.”
He is the founder and sponsor of the annual Lou Rotunda Award. This award has been given to the best all-around senior male student-athlete at Elyria Catholic since 1960. It remains the most coveted award at EC.
He also was the first assistant athletic director of ECHS from 1955-1985.
He started the St. Mary’s grade school CYO football team and coached it for eight years. He also headed the CYO basketball program for 10 years and is a past president of Senior CYO.
He was awarded the first “Eagle of the Cross for Youth Work” Award in 1956 from the Cleveland Diocese. He was inducted into the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame in 1978 and still serves as an officer of the organization.
Rotunda is a member of the Lorain County Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, class of 1994. He was inducted into the Elyria High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame in 2000. Rotunda was awarded an honorary Elyria Catholic diploma in 2001.
He worked for The Chronicle-Telegram for 44 years and is a lifetime member of St. Mary Church. He is also a longtime member of the Knights of Columbus Council 774, Elyria United Polish Club, Elyria Senior Fellowship, Moose Club 778 and Elyria Elks Club.
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Filed by NorthCoastNOW May 3rd, 2009 in Local and State.
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