By Carmen M. Hubbard

CATHEDRAL DEANERY - Students, faculty and staff at St. Boniface School recently marked the 75th anniversary of the current school building located on Pitts Avenue in Northside.

COURTESY PHOTO

St. Bonifice School in Northside recently marked 75 years in its current location with a special heritage celebration.

"This whole school year we proclaim as 'Heritage Celebration,'" teacher Barbara Luken told the students during the ceremony.

"It's marvelous that St. Boniface continues to serve God's people," said Father Joseph Robinson, pastor. "We've got a lot of help, and we're grateful to the archdiocese - especially because we're an inner-city school. Without their help, we wouldn't be here."

Eighth-graders said they'd been learning about the history since they went back to school on Aug. 21. The hallways displayed memorabilia such as desks, chairs and books from the past. A timeline on the walls highlights Cincinnati history as well as international and national events that took place the same year.

Originally called St. Aloysius, the parish that later became St. Boniface was founded on Delaney Street in 1853. Years later, Archbishop John Baptist Purcell authorized a second parish be built to accommodate the influx of immigrants. The congregation approved the church that would serve German and Irish parishioners on April 6, 1861.

The school that would later become St. Boniface was founded by German settlers in a log cabin on West Fork Creek. Students were taught by Sister Genevieve, a member of the Sisters of Charity, and transferred to a house on Delaney Street in 1862. Based on the population of mostly Irish residents in the neighborhood, the parish was renamed St. Patrick. German members of the parish received $1,500 to build a new church named St. Boniface in 1863.

By 1870 the students had moved into a two-story, four-room brick building on Blue Rock Road with Father Boniface Godfrey Topmoeller as pastor. The building was purchased for $7,800. St. Boniface School eventually had 600 students taught by 13 Sisters of Charity at the parish's 50th anniversary in 1913.

The school arrived at its current site on Pitts Avenue in 1932 with 14 classrooms, a cafeteria and kitchen, auditorium, library and other office space. The new building cost $175,000 at that time. About 550 students began school there on Sept. 5, 1933, when Msgr. John Schwartz was pastor. Archbishop John T. McNicholas formally dedicated the building on Sept. 10, and the Sisters of Charity continued to serve the school until 1999.

St. Boniface has evolved from its roots as a neighborhood school. Students from nearby St. Patrick began attending classes there in the early 1970s after their own facility closed and, in 1979, St. Leo School in Fairmount merged with St. Boniface.

This year's big anniversary celebration ended with the singing of "Happy Birthday" and a cake to honor the school.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to teach the children what a great heritage they have," said Mercy Sister Ann Gorman, principal. "The sacrifice and generosity of the people before them and the opportunity to thank the Lord for the gifts and graces of the last 75 years. Children love to celebrate. When they celebrate, they remember."