1936 - 37
The Year
Fr. J. S. Keefe, Judge superintendent, published a letter in the summer of 1936, asking Catholics in parishes to donate to a fund to expand the chapel used by Sisters of the Holy Cross at their convent at Judge. When the school opened in 1921, he said, Judge had only nine nuns and the convent was “comfortable for their use.” But now Judge has “16 sisters and the room is much too small for chapel use and it is also a detriment to the health of the Sisters. The Sisters spend about three hours each day in the Chapel. It is the only recompense they receive for the sacrifice they are making for our children.”
Judge started a band and orchestra under director M.J. Edelman, who came to Judge from the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago. The school also initiated speech, drama, music programs, a glee club, school plays and oratorical competitions, and hired a certified librarian to catalogue the library’s collection and make it more effective. “The broader academic program was purposefully directed toward helping round out the individual into a more integrated person,” future coach Frank Klekas wrote in his master’s thesis.
At a September PTA meeting, Fr. J. S. Keefe spoke on the grave dangers of Communism in the U.S. The October PTA meeting featured a talk by Fr. Jerome Stoffel on the Boy Scouts’ summer trip to Camp Steiner and Mrs. James Grisley’s announcement of a “food education” class being held every other week at Utah Power & Light offices.
The school celebrated the Feast of Christ the King on Oct. 23, 1936.
Sisters Jerome and Geraldine were the first moderators of the newly formed Sodality of Our Lady of Good Counsel, an organization that promoted personal holiness, “Catholic action” and said the Rosary weekly. Pat Maher was prefect for the Boys Sodality, along with fellow officers Bill McHugh, Dennis Vaughan, Bill Halloran and Jim Neville. They oversaw 32 boys in the organization, while the 30 girls in Sodality were led by Mary Maloney, Ruth Vetter, Julian Sheldon, Jule Park and Mary Catherine Doolin. Sodality also sponsored a basketball league for high school students and a “Colonial Carnival” at Judge. Ruth Vetter was crowned “Queen of the Carnival.”
The Glee Club and orchestra performed at the Sarah Daft Home. Tommy Holland, Dennis Vaughan, Billy Franklin and Pat Maher sang a “group of Negro spirituals and hymns,” Rosemary Squires had a saxophone solo and Mary Catherine Doolin played the accordion. Sara Bero gave a reading.
The PTA’s minstrel show was so successful the year before that the parents’ group did it again with a cast of 50 and a complete set of new songs and jokes.
Taking part in an elocution contest were students Jane Halsey, Mary Maloney, Mary Catherine Doolin, Pat Maher, Wilford Dunfield and Tom Holland.
Four music students had solo performances when the Judge band participated in a district competition in Morgan. They were Robert Maloney, Paul Murphy, Daniel Sullivan and Hope Toone.
Jane Halsey and Patrick Maher were the winners of the annual Oratorical Contest. The competition also featured speeches by Wilford Dunfield, Thomas Holland, Mary Catherine Doolin and Mary Maloney.
Alumni officers were John Leary, Class of 1932, president; Ruth Anne DeBus, Class of ’32, vice president; Robert Murphy, Class of ’32, treasurer; and Helen McQuaid, Class of ’31, secretary.
After 14 years of service to the Salt Lake Diocese, Fr. J. S. Keefe left as Judge administrator and diocesan superintendent because of impaired health. He transferred to New Jersey, closer to where he grew up and his mother still lived. A reception in his honor was held in the Judge auditorium. Fr. Keefe was succeeded as superintendent by Fr. Thomas Butler, then pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Park City, and Sr. Teresa Clare, who became principal and superior of the schools.
Plays
Charles Schultz starred as Santa Claus in the play, “In Quest of Santa Claus,” on Dec. 18, 1936. Other cast members were Marilyn Hyland, Virginia Vetter, Bernice Walker, Betty Laramie, Betty Smith, Margaret Maloney, Joseph Hession, Jack Reid, James Collins and a host of grade-school students.
Starring in the mid-February production of “Strongheart,” a drama of Eastern college life, were Donald McGarry, Bill McHugh, Charles Harmon, Bob Maloney and Jack Ivers.
The senior class performed the comedy, “It Pays to Advertise,” starring Jane Halsey, James Neville, Mary Catherine Doolin, John Dignan, Billy Franklin, William Daly, Roseline Sheya, Thomas Holland, Joseph O’Carroll, Patrick Maher and Joseph Thiriot.
Sports
Ken Larsen, a football, basketball and track athlete who graduated from the University of Utah in 1936, was hired to coach Judge athletic teams and to provide “competent” physical education instruction. Other athletic programs included fencing, tumbling and a limited gymnastics program.
Larsen’s first football team went 3-2-1, winning its last three games to finish second in a new division (Summit) of Region II. In a 6-6 tie with Provo, The Salt Lake Tribune noted that Bulldog quarterback Frank Maloney ran 55 yards for a touchdown to tie the game in the fourth quarter. The squad also included John McGuire, James Neville, Frank Knobbe, John Dignan, xxx Barsend, Jack Ivers, Albert Hill, xxx Larsen, xxx McMaster and Dean Burnham.
The basketball team went 2-12. In a 36-15 loss to Granite, The Salt Lake Tribune said “the Judge boys, although lacking experience, looked good at times.” Leading the Bulldogs were Dean Burnham and John McGuire with four points each, while Posselli, Albert Hill and Dennis Vaughan scored two apiece and Frank Maloney one. Ken Larsen was the coach.
Graduation
45 graduates on May 23 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine; 29 boys and 16 girls, the largest in school history.
General Excellence Award: Harry Keyting
Sodality Awards for Catholic Action: Edith LaBranche and Dennis Vaughan
Awards for Oratory: Patrick Maher and Jane Halsey
Scholarships to St. Mary’s of the Wasatch College: Ruth Vetter and Dorothy Terry
McGean Award for athletics, scholarship and leadership: Frank Maloney, football quarterback, who was honorable mention All-State in football for The Salt Lake Tribune and a solid basketball player. “No less praiseworthy has been his scholastic record and his reputation for clean sportsmanship,” the Intermountain Catholic reported. In the fall of 1939, the paper quoted San Francisco Examiner reporter Prescott Sullivan’s story about Maloney being the star in the University of Portland’s 14-12 upset of “mighty” St. Mary’s, after leading them to nearly knocking off Oregon St. (they lost this one 14-12). “Those who remained at home missed a spectacular game and, by long odds, the greatest upset of the season. They missed, too, the finest individual performance by a backfield man hereabouts (the San Francisco Bay area – the home of some very great football) in years. That performance was by Frank Maloney, 180-pound halfback whose home town, the program says, is Salt Lake City, Utah. Master field general, superlative quick kicker, and exceptional forward-passer, Maloney played an all-American game, nothing less.”
The graduating class included Marie Barich, Dean Burnham, Anthony Chiodo, Margaret Carter, John Curley, William Daly, John Dignan, Vernon Donnelly, Mary Catherine Doolin, Wilford Dunfield, Daniel Dunn, Eleanor Dunn, Robert Dwyer, Richard Fleisch, William Franklin, Barbara Glen, Jane Halsey, Albert Hill, Margaret Hinckley, George Hofmann, John Holland, Thomas Holland, Magdalen Kaumans, Margaret Keeffe, Harry Keyting, Frank Knobbe, Carmen Lemos, Patrick Maher, Frank Maloney, Mary Maloney, Mary Louise Maloney, Frank Morgan, John McGuire, James Neville, Joseph O’Carroll, Charles Pantello, Robert Park, Joseph Pelly, Roseline Sheya, Ann Strong, Dorothy Terry, Joseph Thiriot, Dennis Vaughan, Ruth Vetter and Marguerite Weinerth.
