The 15th annual Cardinal Dougherty High School Cards Soar at the Shore reunion was an overwhelming success, drawing 1,029 people to Keenan’s Irish Pub in North Wildwood, N.J. last month.
Proceeds from ticket and T-shirt sales benefited six organizations, each of which received checks for $1,050 last week during a dinner celebration at Tony’s Place in Mayfair. Owner Joe Mallamaci is a 1965 Dougherty graduate.
Mike Prendergast, a 1969 Dougherty grad who heads the reunion committee, presented checks to the following organizations:
• Liberty USO, in memory of U.S. Army Pfc. John Kihm (Dougherty Class of 2009), a Lawndale resident killed in Afghanistan in April. Joe Brooks, a Pine Valley resident and 1984 Dougherty graduate, is president and chief operating officer of Liberty USO, which offers services to military members and their families as they arrive at Philadelphia International Airport.
• Save Wildwood Catholic High School Fund. On Jan. 5, 2010, the Diocese of Camden announced the school would close if it could not raise $200,000 by March 7 of that year. A committee raised $300,000, and the school remains open. When the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced in October 2009 that Dougherty and North Catholic would close in June 2010, it did not give alumni a chance to save the schools.
• The Danny Craige Foundation, in memory of a 1967 Dougherty graduate who died of esophageal cancer in 2006 at age 56. He coached sports for more than 40 years at Frankford Boys Club, St. Martin of Tours and St. Bede the Venerable. The foundation raises money for scholarships for students at St. Martin, St. Bede and La Salle Academy. It has raised more than $130,000 at annual golf outings and socials.
• The Officer Danny Boyle Scholarship Fund, in memory of Gerard Shotzbarger (Dougherty Class of 1974), a Somerton lawyer who died in February and was a member of the scholarship committee board. Danny Boyle was a 26th district police officer from Somerton who was killed in the line of duty in 1991.The fund supports his alma mater, Archbishop Ryan. He attended Dougherty as a freshman. His father Pat, a 1964 Dougherty graduate, accepted the donation, along with George Shotzbarger, a 1969 Dougherty grad and brother of Gerard Shotzbarger. The fund has also assisted St. Veronica, Pat Boyle’s elementary school alma mater.
• The Kevin from Heaven Foundation, in memory of Kevin Flach, a 6-year-old Glenside boy who died last August when he was hit by a car. His parents, Dan Flach (Class of 1988) and Denise Smith Flach (Class of 1990), are Dougherty graduates.
• The Mark Keeley Memorial Fund, in memory of a 2009 Dougherty graduate who was killed in an explosion in January while working for Philadelphia Gas Works. The fund benefits St. Cecilia CYO, where Keeley played and coached.
For more information, visit www.cardinaldoughertyalumni.com ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215–354–3034 or twaring@bsmphilly.com
