THE FIRST 50 YEARS - Cistercian Preparatory School

166 Pages·2013·13.09 MB·English

CISTERCIAN PREPARATORY SCHOOL
THE FIRST 50 YEARS
1962 2012
David E.
Stewart
Headmasters
CistERCiAn
PREPARAtoRy sCHool
1962 - 2012
Fr. Damian szödényi, 1962 - 1969
Fr. Denis Farkasfalvy, 1969 - 1974
Fr. Henry Marton 1974 - 1975
Fr. Denis Farkasfalvy, 1975 - 1981
Fr. Bernard Marton, 1981 - 1996
Fr. Peter Verhalen ’73, 1996 - 2012
Fr. Paul McCormick, 2012 -
Fr. Damian Szödényi Fr. Henry Marton
Headmaster, 1962 - 1969 Headmaster, 1974 - 1975
(b. 1912, d. 1998) (b. 1925, d. 2006)
Pictured on the cover (l-r):
Fr. Bernard Marton, Abbot Peter Verhalen ’73,
Fr. Paul McCormick, and Abbot Emeritus Denis Farkasfalvy.
Cover photo by Jim Reisch
CISTERCIAN PREPARATORY SCHOOL
THE FIRST 50 YEARS
David E. Stewart ’74
Thanks and acknowledgements
The heart of this book comes from over ten years
of stories published in The Continuum,
the alumni magazine for Cistercian Prep school.
Thanks to Abbot Peter Verhalen and Abbot Emeritus Denis Farkasfalvy
and many other monks, faculty members, staff, alumni, and parents
for their trust and willingness to share so much in the pages
of the magazine and this book.
Christine Medaille contributed her time and talent to writing
Chapter 8 and Brian Melton ’71 contributed mightily to Chapter 11.
Thanks to Jim Reisch for his outstanding photography throughout this
book, and especially for the cover shot. Priceless moments from the sixties
were captured by or provided by Jane Bret and Fr. Melchior Chladek.
Thanks to Rodney Walter for collecting the yearbook
photographs used in the book and identifying the students in them.

Thanks to Fr. Bernard Marton, sylvia najera,
and Bridgette Gimenez for their help in editing and proofing.
Thanks to Erin Hart and Abbot Peter for their help and guidance.
— David E. stewart ’74
Written (except as noted above), edited, and designed
by David E. stewart, yardstick Communications.
www.yardstick.co
© 2012, Cistercian Preparatory school
3660 Cistercian Road
irving, texas 75039
469-499-5400
vi
Contents
Part I
The founding and development of the school
Chapter 1 opportunity knocks — 1960 - 1963 3
Chapter 2 struggling identies — 1963 - 1969 17
Chapter 3 tough love — 1969 - 1981 33
Chapter 4 Road to stability — 1981 - 1996 47
Chapter 5 one of our own — 1996 - 2012 59
Part II
Student life through the years
Chapter 6 Building a class 73
Chapter 7 Cistercian athletics 83
Chapter 8 outside the classroom 99
Chapter 9 social evolution 107
Part III
The story behind Our Lady of Dallas
Chapter 10 Unlikely texans 121
Chapter 11 Worlds apart 131
Chapter 12 Generation gap 143
Chapter 13 A place in the clouds 153
Chapter 14 Mater Cistercium 161
vii
“How ’bout a game?”

Fr. Matthew, thanks for many years of fun.
viii
Dedicated to the monks of the Cistercian Abbey
and the faculty members of Cistercian Prep school
whose love and expertise have formed
so many boys over five decades.
ix
Chapter 1
Opportunity knocks — 1960 - 1963
“We don’t have any place to send our boys before whom they were seeking a top-notch education.
they reach high school,” Jane Bret complained to “These three ladies didn’t like what they saw in
Fr. Louis Lékai after one of his history classes at the private and parochial schools,” remembered Bryan
the University of Dallas (UD) in late 1959. F. Smith. “They soon convinced their respective
Mrs. Bret, a Montessori teacher and mother spouses that the education of their sons was in serious
of three boys, was working to complete her degree trouble.” A Harvard graduate with five sons and two
at UD. Fr. Louis was playing a key role at UD; he daughters, Smith enthusiastically jumped aboard
was also one of the primary reasons that Hungarian the small bandwagon that still had little direction.
Cistercians had landed in Texas and Irving. A feature story in the January 1960 edition of
“We need a school like Ursuline for boys,” the Catholic magazine, Jubilee, changed that.
she explained. (Note: Ursuline Academy The story trumpeted the exploits of a new school in
served grades K-12 in those days.) St. Louis. The Priory School had been founded in 1955
The parochial schools overflowed with children, by parents who recruited Oxford-educated Benedictine
sometimes 75 to 80 students filling a class. The monks to serve as the nucleus of their faculty.
private schools weren’t much better. Two other The monks from the Ampleforth Abbey of York,
moms, Pat Healy and Beth Smith shared her England, had enjoyed tremendous success, sending
concerns. All three had a number of sons for a large percentage of the students in their first
3
graduating class of 1960 to the nation’s top colleges. On the other hand, they knew the University of
The magazine story, or word of it, slowly made the Dallas could not guarantee employment for the Cister-
rounds. The Priory School paradigm appeared solid. cians forever. A prep school operated by the Cistercian
Mrs. Bret, who had studied under Fr. Damian would put the monks in control of their own destiny.
as well as Fr. Louis at UD, recommended that Frs. Louis and Anselm also may have understood
the growing band of “zealots” that Jane Bret represented
(Bryan Smith’s term) consider the more than just the concerns
Cistercian monks as an option. of a few families. Here was an
opportunity that might not come
knocking again for some time.
Jane Bret’s comments on the They accepted the challenge,
need for a Catholic boys school must believing that in the long-term,
have lifted the spirits of Fr. Louis. the monks (many of whom had
He quickly passed along the news struggled to find steady work
to his longtime friend, Cistercian between 1950 and 1955) needed
classmate and novice-mate, Fr. Anselm the prep school as much as parents
Nagy, the prior and superior of the like Jane Bret needed the monks.
Cistercian community in Irving.
Frs. Louis and Anselm had
served as the scouts who explored “Yes, indeed we’d like to form
America for a home where they could a school,” Fr. Anselm told her. “We
keep the flame of their Hungarian have been teaching secondary school
traditions burning (see Chapter 10). A students for centuries in Hungary. But
preeminent history scholar (he wrote we’ll need more than moral support.”
two definitive texts on the Cistercian Mr. Smith, the chief financial
Order) with wit, charm, and grace, officer for Texas Instruments, began to
Fr. Louis served as the community’s line up that support. He approached
lightning rod and passionate salesman. his good friend, Pat Haggerty, then
A meticulous and quiet numbers man, president of Texas Instruments. Mr.
Fr. Anselm preferred to remain in the Haggerty (who later would become
background, focused on moderating the company’s chairman) had a son the
disputes and financing the operation. same age as Mr. Smith’s oldest son.
A prep school had been in their “I could really get interested
plans all along. Secondary education, in this,” said Haggerty.
after all, had been the Cistercians’ Smith then asked Mrs. Bea
traditional vocation in Europe for Fr. Anselm Nagy (above) and Haggerty to help him enlist the
centuries. But a prep school was Fr. Louis Lékai were classmates support of Bishop Gorman for this
envisioned only after the Cister- at St. Emeric’s, the Cistercian new Catholic boys school. They found
cians had rooted themselves in the school in Budapest. Fr. Louis the bishop preoccupied with a variety
Dallas area, perhaps in the seventies. brought vision and passion of other projects, including the creation
Both worried that a prep school to the monastery, while Fr. of two new diocesan high schools,
at this juncture would distract the Anselm calmly maintained Bishop Dunne and Bishop Lynch.
Cistercians from the very purpose for order as well as the books. “Bea and I had to sit on the
which they had settled in Dallas — bishop’s desk, literally,” Smith laughed.
to teach at the University of Dallas. This community “We would not let the subject drop; we kept him on
of highly educated monks took pride in their roles as the case. He finally said, ‘If you’re going to do this
college professors. They might not be inclined to give school, go ahead.’” There was, however, a condition.
up well-behaved young adults for unruly adolescents. The bishop prohibited fund-raising efforts for this
4 Cistercian Prep School: The First 50 Years
new boys’ school from “I sensed that Fr.
interfering with his Damian really didn’t
other projects — in want the job,” recalled
other words, no public Mr. Smith in his remarks
campaign. Without at Fr. Damian’s Rosary
advertising, the message and Vigil Service in
would have to spread December 1998. “I soon
by word of mouth. discovered he had a
In the Spring of 1961, reservoir of negotiating
Dr. Mike Healy, Mr. skills when he finally
Bill Bret, and Fr. Moses agreed to assume the
Nagy traveled to St. task, but only if he would
Louis to visit The Priory be free from the respon-
School. The trip fueled sibility for fundraising
the group’s enthusiasm and the school’s finances;
and provided fodder for Bryan Smith (in tuxedo) and wife Beth hosted a party in thus cleverly shifting
Fr. Moses’ first and, as it May 1961 to introduce Dallasites to the Cistercians and back to the lay zealots
turned out, last presen- generate interest in their new Catholic school. Prior Anselm the responsibility for
tation on the new school. (left) and Fr. Moses represented the monks. those essential tasks.”
The Smiths hosted
a buffet in May 1961 for interested parents. Sixty
attended and heard Fr. Moses tell of the challenges “Beginning in January of 1962, we were extremely
of the coming decade, including the increasing busy,” recalled Fr. Melchior Chladek, who had
competition for spots at the nation’s top colleges. been appointed by Prior Anselm in late 1961 to
He outlined a proposed curriculum that sounded assist Fr. Damian in preparing the new school.
quite different from American standards; it was the In addition to administering admission tests (and
curriculum of the Cistercian schools in Hungary. chauffeuring each candidate home), the two priests
Prior Anselm, however, decided in June 1961 to were ordering textbooks, chalk, and desks, everything
appoint Fr. Damian, not Fr. Moses, as the school’s first one needs to run a school. Once the Cistercians
headmaster. The appointment surprised both men, had leased Merici Hall on Walnut Hill Lane from
and neither appeared amused by the decision. the Ursuline nuns, they began to transform the old
Fun at the Bret’s ranch near Waxahachie, April 1962.
Left: Jane Bret walks with (l-r) Fr. Gilbert Hardy and Fr. Philip Seitz.
Right: (l-r) Fr. Anselm Nagy, Fr. Thomas Fehér, and William Bret.
Chapter 1: Opportunity knocks 5