Supplements

archive ISSUE

students share memories of time at sacred heart school in du quoin

Story and photo by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

With more than 100 people in attendance, Sacred Heart School in Du Quoin gathered for its final day of school and the final liturgy celebrated with its students as the school closed its doors after 139 years.

Msgr. Harry Jerome, pastor, and himself a student at the school, wept as he entered the church preceded by its 21 students in kindergarten through fourth grades.

Steadily declining enrollment necessitated the closing of the school and pre-school which had 11 youngsters in its program.

Southern Illinois University in Carbondale is interested in using some of the space at the school, Msgr. Jerome said.

At the beginning, a one-room school opened in 1869 — three years after the parish was established — in pastor, Father Charles Klocke’s rectory for eight pupils, according to a written account in “Profiles from Our Heritage.”
At the request of Father Klocke, School Sisters of Notre Dame were sent by Mother Caroline Friess to teach in the school at Sacred Heart.

On Aug. 28, 1891, four Sisters arrived: Sister Samuela Sauer, superior and teacher of upper grades; Sister Artemia Wilke, teacher of primary grades; Sister Madeline Timmerman, in charge of music; Sister Alruna Hilbert, in charge of the house and garden.

Since the sisters had no convent available, the pastor gave them his home and sought lodging nearby, according to records from the SSNDs.

A two-story structure was built and on Sept. 7, 1891, 80 children registered: about two thirds were German; one third were Irish and a few Polish students. The children were eager to learn.

“By the feast day of the pastor, Nov. 4, the children sang their first Latin Mass,” the SSND records state.
In May 1892, the building used for teaching school during the past 20 years under the direction of lay teachers was razed.

A new school/convent building was constructed and in October 1892, 120 students entered their new school.
It contained four classrooms, a library, office, science-art room and living quarters for the sisters on the second floor.
The enrollment continued to increase and grade 9 was added in 1909.

Eventually, a two-year commercial course was also added. By 1929, the enrollment had reached 240 students.
Gradually, the number of students and sisters decreased. By 1987, there were seven classrooms with lay teachers and an SSND principal.

At the liturgy, Msgr. Jerome shared his memories of being a student at Sacred Heart School and then invited those in the congregation to share theirs as well.

“Sacred Heart School meant a great deal to the Jerome family,” Msgr. Jerome said.

His mother drove to the school every day from Dowell in a 1941 Chevrolet, picking up children along the way. By the time she arrived, she had brought 13 children to school, he said, including one child with her school bag and trumpet case.

He marveled at how all of those children could be “seated” in one car.
Tuition at that time was $1.00 per month.


At the time, during the 1940s, 60 youngsters were enrolled in kindergarten, first and second grade.
Msgr. Jerome invited people in the pews, themselves students or graduates of Sacred Heart School, to share their memories.

They included cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate that were served after Mass on first Fridays, and processions in May in honor of the Blessed Mother.

Another parishioner remembers she didn’t have to study much math for the first two years of high school because of the education she received at the school.

People remembered sports programs, raffles, picnics, all of the events associated with a Catholic school.
Father John Iffert, also a diocesan priest and graduate of Sacred Heart School in 1983, remembers his years at the school with fondness and recounts a couple of teachers and particular incidents that stand out in his memory.
“Sister Doris Jean was the first- and second-grade teacher when I entered SHS. She knew two things about me: 1. I talked too much in class; and 2. I was extremely ticklish.

“She would put me on notice that I was talking out too much by sneaking up behind me and tickling me until I thought that I was going to fall out of my desk,” Father Iffert said.

Father Iffert “loved the School Sisters of Notre Dame who served at the school.”

He especially remembered his music teacher, Sister Mary Anthony who “tried to give us an introduction to music, but I don’t remember getting much past “Camptown Races.”

“The piano in the music/art room (which later became the library) had an old upright piano pushed up against the wall,” he said. “Sister Mary Anthony would reach around behind her back and plunk out simple melodies on the piano while facing us. I guess she thought we needed watching.”

The lay teachers made an impression on students as well, especially Mrs. Kathy Lynn, Father Iffert’s third- and fourth-grade teacher.

During those years, he was still short for his age. “At recess, teachers locked the door to the classroom area, and the only available drinking fountain was a tall one by the carport entrance near the bathrooms. Everyday, after returning from recess, I would ask permission to get a drink of water.

“Each day Mrs. Lynn would allow me to go, but correct me for asking, telling me to use the bathroom and get a drink during recess. Then one day she saw me struggling on my tiptoes trying to get a drink of water,” he said.
When she realized the youngster was too short to drink from that fountain, she apologized.

“The next day the janitors built a little wooden step so that us shorter kids could get a drink. It’s the kind of gentleness and responsiveness I consistently experienced from the sisters and the lay teachers at SHS,” Father Iffert said.
Closing the school has been difficult for teachers, students, family members and graduates among others, but Msgr. Jerome asked people to concentrate on the grounding in faith of all those who attended the school over the years.
As people concluded their reminiscences about their time at the school, Msgr. Jerome said: “These are some beautiful memories we will always carry in our hearts about Sacred Heart School.”