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Foundation of the Augustinian Academy

It was a bright warm Tuesday morning in the fall of 1961, September 5th to be exact, that the New Augustinian Academy opened its doors to one hundred and thirty five young men. They came from fifty-five parishes, and were members of the freshman class in the newest boys high school in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

This college preparatory school is the first Augustinian foundation in the St. Louis area. The Academy is located on what was the campus of Maryville College, conducted by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

The college campus, eighteen acres, and the buildings were purchased by his Eminence Joseph Cardinal Ritter and donated to the Augustinians for the specific purpose of conducting a boys’ high school.

The Cardinal’s letter, written on the occasion of the school’s first Foundation Day Dinner, is as follows:

Office of the Cardinal Archbishop
4445 Lindell Boulevard
St. Louis, MO
March 14, 1962

Dear Father Seary:

It is a pleasure to welcome the Augustinian fathers to the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

The foundation of the ancient order of St. Augustine at what was formerly Maryville has enriched our Archdiocese spiritually and educationally. It was the establishment of a high school, the Augustinian Academy that was the happy occasion of the coming of the Augustinian Fathers to us. Yours was the generous answer to our need and we will always be grateful to you.

May your St. Louis Community and the Academy prosper beyond measure and again may I assure you of a hearty welcome to St. Louis.

Imparting my blessing, I am.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Joseph Cardinal Ritter
Archbishop of St. Louis

The Very Rev. John L. Seary, O.S.A.
Provincial, Mother of Good Counsel Province

TOLENTINE COLLEGE
Augustinian Major Seminary
Olympia Fields, Illinois

Office of the Provincial

April 13, 1962

I should like to congratulate you the faculty, the Student Body, and the parents on the occasion of the First Foundation Day Dinner to be held at the Augustinian Academy in St. Louis on May 14, 1962.

We are very grateful to His Eminence Cardinal Ritter for inviting us to participate in the great work of the Church in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. May God be please to bestow His blessing upon or Fathers, brothers, Clerics, Students, parents and friends of the Academy not only on this occasion but for all times.

We are deeply grateful for the excellent welcome we have received in St. Louis from our fellow priests, both those of the secular and the regular clergy. The people have not only received us well but have shown a deep interest in our work and in interesting others in helping us to further the work of Catholic education. Our Fathers join with me in best wishes for the complete success of the new Academy.

Very Rev. John L. Seary, O.S.A.
Provincial

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History of the Augustinian Academy

St. Louis, "Gateway to the West," as symbolized by its six hundred and forty foot arch, is an historic city with a population of three quarters of a million people (1962). The first diocese was established in 1826. The seeds of faith were planted by the early missionaries who traveled by canoe down the Mississippi. It is interesting to note the present Ordinary, Cardinal Ritter, was titular bishop of Hippo, Saint Augustine’s field of apostolic labor, when he was Auxiliary in Indianapolis.

Augustinian Academy is located in the southwestern section of the city, a residential neighborhood, principally of Germanic extraction.

The buildings all formerly occupied by Maryville are as follows:

Austin Hall - A five story structure built in the shape of the letter "E" with very high ceilings, constructed in 1872, with the exception of the two wings. This building serves the Administration, classrooms, living quarters for the Faculty and boarding students. The chapel wing in the center of the "E" is about fifty years old, and for its size and beauty would do justice to any parish church.

Mendel Hall - A separate brick structure about fifty years old. It was originally used for the elementary division of the college, and is now converted to high school science laboratories. This Building was named for Gregor Mendel, and Augustinian Priest who was also a scientist.

Seary Hall - A very modern building housing the student dining facilities and a first class auditorium with a stage constructed about fifteen years ago.

Academy Gymnasium - A small gym, much too small for the needs of the school and about forty years old. There are also caretakers quarters on the campus.

A new athletic field was completed in 1966. It will accommodate football and soccer, and has a dirt track circling the field. There are many beautiful trees on the campus.

The first contingent of Augustinians moved into the old college on June 5, 1961 they are as follows: Fr. John Gilman, Father John McNabb, Br. Robert and Br. Martin plus twelve of the seminarians from Tolentine College. Before the summer was over the original group was augmented by Fr. Ed Kuczynski, Fr. Casimir Pazera and Fr. Dudley Day.

Renovations and repairs were extensive and comprehensive and included such activities as new roofing, new boiler, repaving roads, new paint, new furniture and school facilities to be unpacked, uncrated, set up and arranged. All this was done in preparation for the new community to take over and open up the school.

Canonical Foundation for the Convent of St. Augustine was officially received in a Rescript from Rome, and the first community, composed of the following moved in. Fr. James Lynne, Prior: Fr. John McNabb, Principal: Frs. Joseph Graham, William Hoffman, Daniel Trusch, Philip Foley, and Francis Sullivan. There were also six brothers to staff the school cafeteria and to do the general maintenance work. The community was also blessed with fifteen students about to begin their theology course.

The record then shows that Augustinian Academy provided the first house of theology for the Province of the Midwest. It remained in St. Louis for two years and was transferred to Tolentine College where it is now located.

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Official Opening

The official opening of Augustinian Academy was observed in an outdoor ceremony, where the American flag was blessed and raised, then in the school chapel where a Solemn Mass was offered by the principal, Fr. John McNabb. The faculty and student body were present for both occasions.

The Prior Provincial, Fr. John Seary, offered Mass on September 19th. Most reverend Peter Canisus VanLeidre, O.S.A., Papal Sacristan and Vicar General of Vatican City, celebrated Mass on September 20th. On the next two days the student body made their retreat.

The first freshman class numbered one hundred and thirty four boys. Since then the school has steadily grown, both in quality and quantity so that at the end of the scholastic year 1966 the enrollment numbered seven hundred and forty eight, of which seventy boys were boarding students. The present plan calls for a maximum of eight hundred students. The steady progress of this new school reflects a number of things. Foremost is the acceptance and support of the clergy, parents and people of St. Louis. This acceptance reflects the excellence of Augustinian education, found not only at our school in St. Louis, but in all the schools conducted by the Augustinian order. Much of what is written above is extracted from the Foundation Day Dinner of 1966. We were five years old at the time. We had placed fourth in the State Basketball Tournament, second in the State Baseball Tournament and second in the State Soccer Tournament. Not bad when you're only five years old. We also had football, track, bowling, cross country, golf and tennis teams. We could hold our own with any other school in the area as well as our brother schools in Chicago. Augustinian Academy had a theatrical program second to none in the state of Missouri. Our theatrical productions drew participation from every Catholic girl’s school in the Metro St. Louis Area. We even had one of the young ladies land a part in the movie "Billyjack" starring Tom Laughlin. She is more famous to Academy gentlemen as the young lady who bowed at an assembly prior to the opening of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and gave the classes of 1966 through 1969 a blossoming view. We had many great teachers at the Academy. Most were dedicated to the school and its goals. One of those charismatic teachers was John Dring, more affectionately known as the "OLD DAD." There wasn’t any event at the Academy that didn’t include the "OLD DAD." We enjoyed many hours with John as he regaled us with the stories of his youth and history of the Civil War. He taught us biology and did a great job of it. John taught us how to study through the use of outlines. He is one of those teachers that you never forget. Fr. Wisniewski was another of those memorable men. His outward appearance brought fear to many young men. But when you had a problem you learned that he was a gentle giant with a heart as big as the Kiel Auditorium. While there are many memorable teachers; Fr. Graham, Fr. Petsinger, Fr. Trusch, Mr. Bradley, Coach Benben, Coach Mackenzie, Coach Noser, Mr. Bick and many more, there is one man who will always have a big spot in the history of the Academy, Fr. Jack Gavin. Fr. Jack is known to most of us younger guys, but you older guys weren’t lucky enough to have known him. Fr. Jack was the last principal of the Academy. He fought alongside men like the OLD DAD, and Judge Bob Dowd Sr. to keep the Academy open. He spent many years after the school closed as the pastor of Immaculate Conception / St. Henry parish on the near southside of the city. His parish closed July 1, 2005. We had many great times at the Academy. The dances, pep rallies, proms and homecomings were sources of great pride. Every student got involved in some way or another. They built floats, drove antique cars, stole materials to build the floats, and went to area hotels to commandeer props for homecoming dances. Our pride in that school carried us to great heights and no one every desecrated the red and the black. We defended our colors and our brothers; no one could mess with an Academy Man without retribution from other young men wearing the red and the black. We weren’t violent young men but we wouldn’t back away either. We graduated over 1200 men in our short lifetime. 95% went on to college and earned degrees. We had three young men attend national military academies. Many of us served in Vietnam, some were wounded others lost their lives. Many are now prominent in their fields of endeavor. We have elected officials, judges, doctors, lawyers and scientists. The Augustinians and there lay associates were "ordinary men doing extra-ordinary things." One of our teachers was heard to say; "you guys weren’t the bowl of fruit on the table you were the tomatoes that hit the floor." He was also overheard talking to Fr. Gavin one night and he relayed the following: Frederick March played Mark Twain in a movie about Twain’s life. At the end of the movie Mark Twain and Tom Sawyer were seen walking along the levy in Hannibal and Twain spoke about his life and what he had done. The teacher said, "Padre, I can picture you and I walking around the Academy grounds when we go to our final reward talking about the men we helped to mold." This is paraphrased, but I think you get the gist of it. The pride lied not only with the students, but with the faculty as well. We will try to memorialize as many of the stories we rehash whenever we get together to create a running history. As you go online to look at this site feel free to email us your stories and we will try to put as many of them on the site as is humanly possible. Please give us your thoughts on how to improve this site and we will do our best to incorporate them. The Augustinian Academy Alumni Association

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Closure of the Augustinian Academy

Another piece of the history of the Augustinian Academy is its eventual closure. While for some these memories are heartbreaking, the document(s) below give a fuller picture of the history of the Augustinian Academy.

Letter Regarding Public Auction of Academy Equipment - June 1, 1972

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