After much anticipation, we are finally here to announce the ninth, eighth, and seventh Top Ten Greatest Saint Joe Moments!

Our number nine spot throws us all the way back to the year 1954. The South Bend Central Catholic, Saint Joseph’s Academy, and South Bend Catholic all decided to merge into one institution in the year 1953. South Bend Catholic, interestingly enough, also absorbed Saint Hedwig’s High School, which is still a thriving Church community here in South Bend. After the three separate schools were integrated into one community, classes still remained separated by gender. The first graduating class were presented their diplomas in the spring of 1954.

Our number eight spot is a Saint Joe event that is much more recent in history. As many of our students know, the current Saint Joe building is not the original Saint Joe building. In 2012, the Saint Joe community was relocated into a new building. For years, the old saint Joe building remained standing and was ultimately bought by Notre Dame and leased to Holy Cross College to use as additional classroom space. Because most of the building remained vacant, the main portion and the north residential wing were demolished in the summer of 2016. Before the demolition occurred, a crew was tasked with removing the dangerous asbestos that was encased within the structure. This demolition of a building that had remained unrenovated since the 1950s was a historic moment in Saint Joe’s history.

Our seventh spot on the Top Ten Greatest Saint Joe Moments was Mrs. Richter’s retirement. Susan Richter was pillar in the Saint Joe High school community. She started at Saint Joe in 1995 as the director of student life, dean of students, and as a math teacher. In 2005, she took over as principal and held that position until the Spring of 2018. Mrs. Richter led Saint Joe through a difficult transition from the old building into a brand new one. Even as she focused on supporting the strong academics and circular activities of Saint Joe students, she continued to keep the faith formation of her students as her number one priority. Mrs. Richter’s retirement ended a great era of Saint Joe and allowed for a new one to begin with the appointment of principal John Kennedy.

Stay tuned for the next set of Saint Joe’s Top Ten Greatest Moments!

Sources:

https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/most-of-old-st-joseph-high-school-to-be-demolished/article_dfcfab86-21ab-11e6-b708-8723b5128d1b.html