St. John’s School
St. John’s School Front Entrance View
I entered St. John’s Elementary School in the fall of 1955 as a kindergartner. I don’t remember much about kindergarten. My teacher was Mrs. Broderick, one of the few teachers in the school who was not a nun. Most of the teachers belonged to the order named The Sisters of Mercy. When it came to discipline, however, “mercy” wasn’t something you could expect from them. I’ll have more to say about that later.Kindergarten at St. John’s in 1955 was a half day affair. Your parents could choose morning or afternoon. I think I spent the mornings there. I don’t remember being taught anything useful like the alphabet. I wouldn’t be exposed to any real education until 1st grade. One of the things I remember was there was a model of a farm and we could play with the tractor and other equipment. The drawing below shows how St. John’s looked when you viewed it from the playground. As I recall the playground was a dirt lot while I was in kindergarten, but was paved by the time I entered first grade.
West View of St. John’s School
The playground equipment was probably typical of the era. Below I will present some pictures of the equipment I remember to be on St. John’s playground.
Swing Set
The drawing above shows the swing which I think was most frequently used by the middle grade (3rd thru 6th) students. The seats were not suspended from chains rather a series of steel bars with eye hooks on each end. Some of the bolder students would swing standing up, pumping with their legs until they reached a point where their bodies were parallel to the ground.In the winter when there was an appreciable amount of snow on the ground, we liked to pretend we were paratroopers and jump out of the swing when it reached the highest extent of the forward arc.
Combination Set
The picture above shows combined set that was on the playground. From left to right there was a teeter totter, two pull-up bars, a couple of swings, a set of rings, a trapeze, and a slide. The swings were a little smaller than those on the other swing set.Sometimes three or four kids would get on each end of the teeter totter, but it held up fine. The slide wasn’t anything unusual, but, in the winter, we used to throw snow in it to increase the rate of descent.
Merry-go-round
The merry-go-round, pictured above, was the most hazardous item on the playground. This was because the kids would like to see how fast they could make it go. To get the maximum speed out of it, two guys would get on each of the struts supporting the outer seats and push while running. When the merry-go-round got going so fast out feet couldn’t keep up we sat on the struts and rode until it slowed down again. I know one boy broke either his arm or leg because he jumped off when it was going too fast. I got in trouble once because of the merry-go-round. I think I was in first or second grade at the time. Some kid pushed me off so he could have my seat. In in a rage I threw a rock at him. I didn’t consider the fact that the merry-go-round was rotating. Instead of hitting my target a hit another boy just above his eye. I really felt sorry about that.
Hopscotch Painted on Pavement
Our school had two hopscotch grids like the one above painted on the asphalt pavement of the playground. I didn’t play that much. I think this game was played more by girls rather than boys.
Basketball Court
The playground had a basketball court like the one above. It was most frequently used by the upper grades. Although there was a full court as shown, usually we only played half court because the other half was used by another team. A half court also serves as a diamond for softball or a game we called “socker”. This wasn’t soccer, but a converted game of baseball. The ball used was an inflated rubber ball about the size of a soccer ball. A player would hit the ball with their hand while standing at home plate. Then that player would try to get on base before the fielding team could tag them. I believe a tag was accomplished by hitting the runner with the ball by throwing it at him or her. The nuns sometimes supervised the games like socker; but sometimes we chose up teams on our own. Sometimes it would be a contest of boys against girls.Another boy verses girl contest were relay races. The girls would line up in one line and the boys in the other. When the nun blew a whistle two of the contestants (one boy and one girl) would take off running each would run a predetermined distance, turn around and run back tagging the next person in line. The girls often won this contest, although as we got older the boys tended to predominate.
There was an alley behind the school which also served as an extension of the playground. On the far side of the alley was a concrete retaining wall with a pipe railing on top. On the other side of the wall was an embankment which was badly eroded but had at least one good sized tree on it. We weren’t supposed to play on the hill but often did when the nuns weren’t outside to keep an eye on us. This would usually be before school or right after lunch when the nuns were having their lunch. We would play “King of the Mountain” on the hill. One kid would climb to the top of the embankment and declare himself “King”. The other boys would try to “depose” him by throwing him down the hill. The King would try to retain his position by knocking his assailants back down the hill. Naturally there certain boys who were adept at maintaining their throne for a long time. On the embankment there was an outcropping knoll occupied by a lone tree. The sides of the knoll were nearly vertical due to erosion. I saw one boy, named Willy, fall head first off the knoll. I thought surely he must have been seriously injured. To my surprise he just got up and continued playing.
We also played softball in the alley when I was in one of the upper grades. One day, a boy named Jerry, lobbed the ball into a high arc and it went down a pipe vent on the roof of the men’s dormitory that was adjacent to the east side of the school. I can’t imagine what the odds would be of that happening.
On the north side of the playground, a little beyond the basketball court, the pavement sloped downward. I can’t say how far, but in the winter we use to “ski” down it in our shoes and bounce off the chain link fence that bounded the playground on the north side. On that sloped side there was a single Catalpa tree. When the playground was paved the pavers left a circular opening around the tree so it could continue to grow. We weren’t allowed to climb the tree. If a kid was caught climbing it, I believe the offender was sent to the principal’s office.
The school building had a basement, two floors that ran the length of the building, and a library above the 2nd floor that occupied a part of the level which was otherwise attic. Below is a plan of the basement as I remember it.
Basement Plan
As evident from the plan the main function of the basement was to provide an area for the students to have their lunch. The school provided a hot meal for students at a cost of 35 cents per meal. For those students who brought a bag lunch instead they also ate in the same area. My mother preferred we came home for lunch. I think that was because she thought that by eating at home we would be less likely to pick up a virus. It was about a four and half block walk from the school to my home, so it wasn’t a terrible burden. We just missed out on some playground time because we had to make the trip.In 7th grade I was on safety patrol every other week. As a result I got a free hot lunch the week I had patrol duty. This was because we had to be on post for a while for the kids who went home for lunch. I don’t remember what time we ate lunch while I was on patrol duty. It is possible we had it before the other classes got out for lunch.
My two favorite meals from the cafeteria were fried chicken and hamburger gravy on top of mashed potatoes. These two were very tasty.
The picture below is of my 1st grade class after we received our First Communion in the spring of 1957. It was taken in the basement and you can see the stage in the background. I participated in a couple of school performances on that stage, but I’ll mention them later.
St. John’s First Communion Class 1957
In the northeast corner of the building is a room where Boy Scout Troop 45 had a large storage locker where they kept the tents and other camping equipment. It also doubled as a room for scout meetings when turnout was light. I save my experiences as a Boy Scout for another chapter.
First Floor Plan
Looking at the plan of the first floor shown above one can see that it contained the classrooms for the lower grades. My 1st Grade teacher was Sister Geraldine Marie (shown below). There was also a nurse’s station where playground casualties were treated and sick kids sent.
Sister Geraldine Marie
I only remember a few bits about 1st Grade. Sister Geraldine Marie was generally nice, but a stickler for classroom etiquette, often telling us to keep our hands away from our faces and feet together on the floor. First Grade was where I first learned to read and write and the basics of arithmetic.One memory I have was that Sister Geraldine once assigned a girl, Mary Jane Smith, to help me clean my desk because the sister thought it was too messy. Our desks were similar to the one below. The top opened so we could store our books and papers. While she was assisting me, Mary Jane discovered a toy car I’d smuggled into school. I was afraid Mary would tell the Sister I had it. Instead, she said something like “Let’s see, we’ll put the car here.” Then she found a little nook and shoved the car in it.
Typical School Desk
Being only six years old, I had no particular attraction to girls, but I liked Mary Jane. Below is a picture of her taken at kindergarten graduation. She lived on 27th Street, between Chicago St. and Cass St. I don’t remember seeing her after 1st grade. I think the family moved. Sometime later the house was occupied by William “Chick” Chalmers who played hockey for the Omaha Knights team. I believe he had at least one child who attended St. John’s School.
Mary Jane Smith
Sharon Cole was another cute girl I was attracted to in first grade. Below is a picture of her taken from the First Communion photograph.
Sharon Cole
Sharon became one of the most popular girls in the school throughout my grade school years. I remember walking her home once. I don’t remember how that came to pass, but she invited me in. Her parents weren’t there and I didn’t stay long. That was one of only two times we were alone together. The other time was at our 8th grade picnic when she noticed I was keeping to myself and she tried to encourage me to participate in some activity in which the other kids were involved.Second grade was a change from first. I had a woman lay teacher that year. I was glad to have her only because the alternative, Sister Judith who also taught 2nd grade was a tough nun. Sister Judith was of the “spare the rod and spoil the child” philosophy. She meted out harsh punishments to anyone who got out of line. I remember once she hit me upside the head with a plastic baseball bat because I had bullied some other kid on the playground.
There are only two things I really remember about 2nd grade. First, the 2nd grade class put on the Christmas pageant that year. The pageant was basically a visual portrayal of the story of Christ’s birth as recorded in the Bible. I and several other boys played shepherds who sat around a campfire when an angel came to announce the birth of Christ. To make the scene more realistic the teacher encouraged us to bring a sandwich to munch on. I think only one of the shepherds had a line to speak. I know it wasn’t me. At dress rehearsal when it came time to speak his line he has a mouthful and couldn’t say it. The teacher admonished him to take only a small bite of his sandwich.
Another ploy the teacher use to make the scene more realistic was to simulate a campfire by putting red tissue or crepe paper around a kerosene lamp. To get kerosene she sent three of us to a gasoline station at 25th & Dodge St. She gave one of us a quarter to pay for it. Along the way the other two boys got into an argument about the width of Dodge Street. Dodge Street in Omaha is the dividing line between North and South Omaha. It was a major arterial with two lanes two lanes to carry traffic moving east and two for the traffic moving west. One of the boys, at a loss for a suitable analogy to describe the width, in desperation said:
“It’s wider than your head.”
The other boy replied: “I should hope so.” That ended the argument.
When we got to the gas station the attendant asked what we were going to use to carry the kerosene in. We were at a loss. The teacher hadn’t provided us with any kind of container. The attendant then opened a can of motor oil, poured the contents into some sort of receptacle, and filled the oil can with kerosene.
The other thing I remember pretty well was a class discussion on how to defend ourselves against Charles Starkweather should the need arise.
Charles Starkweather was a serial killer who was a subject of a massive manhunt by various law enforcement authorities between December 1, 1957 and January 29, 1958. Since there appeared to be no pattern to his killing, there was prevalent a fear that he could turn up most anywhere at any time. The news media covered the killings tenaciously.
Somehow the subject of what to do if Starkweather turned up in your bedroom got brought up in our 2nd grade class. I think one kid said he or she would take a baseball bat to bed. The teacher said something, I don’t remember exactly what, but she encouraged all of us to do likewise.
When I told my parents about the class discussion, they were outraged that the teacher said what she did. My parents felt that the teacher was spreading panic among the children. I think my mother or father may even have had a word with her.
In third grade I had a nun for a teacher again. She was very old and I believe a lay teacher substituted for her frequently. I think it was a rather bland year overall. There was one incident which occurred that gave me a good laugh.
In what might be described today as our social studies segment of class we were studying prehistoric man and the accompanying settlements. Our textbook assigned names to a family of cavemen. They named one as Clem. Later, in our English class we were to make up sentences. One kid neglected to use punctuation and the teacher read his entry to the class as an example of what not to do. It came out something like this:
“There were many cavemen who lived long ago one was named Clem if you park by a fire hydrant the cops will get you”
The whole class laughed.
In 4th Grade, I had Sister Dolorita as a teacher. Although she rarely, if ever, administered physical punishment, she could think up some nasty punish lessons and the students had to stay after school to do them. One punishment was copying pages out of a dictionary. Another was a problem that involved multiplication which took a long time to do.
I hated having to stay after school, but managed to get in trouble nonetheless. If I didn’t come home after school was out, I’d have to explain why I was late to my mother and/or father. If I told them the teacher kept me after school they would likely punish me again because I’d misbehaved in school. I often lead them to believe I’d been over at the rectory at altar boy practice.
There was one time, however, that I knew I would have to tell my parents I had to stay after school as a punishment. I was afraid to go home. I thought about running away. Instead of coming up with a plan, I just wandered the streets of the neighborhood. Eventually my father found me. He was furious. He gave me the choice of a severe spanking of going without sweets for a month. I couldn’t decide which was worse so my dad chose the abstinence from sweets option.
It was about 4th grade I started thinking about attending a military academy. I’d been reading books of famous people like General Grant and Robert E. Lee who had attended West Point. My parents encouraged my interest in both my choice of books and my interest in going to a military academy.
In 5th Grade my teacher was Sister Anthony. She was an old nun with a temper. One time in a fit of rage, while striking me, she broke a pointer stick in several places. I don’t even remember what my offense was. She also had a real phobia about snakes. She thought all snakes were devils. When we did drawings in class, no one would dare include a snake in the drawing.
Being old, Sister Anthony did have a little problem with memory. From time to time she had us write a story, usually about a paragraph or two. These we would be called on to read in class. One boy, named Harley, wrote a paragraph about his dog. He only wrote it once. Sub sequentially, whenever the nun asked us to write a story, he would pull out the same paragraph and read it. I don’t recall Sister Anthony ever catching him.
In 5th grade I started reading Hardy Boys mysteries. Our library had most all the books in the series. I got interested in the Hardy Boys because my dad gave me a copy of the first book in the series entitled, The Tower Treasure. My dad had picked it up at a Goodwill store for 10 cents. (Most of my clothes came from Goodwill. My dad would go there after he got paid to see what they had.) Shortly after reading The Tower Treasure, I discovered the school library had a large collection of the rest of the books in the series. I think books 1 through 38 were available. I got so engrossed in this series that I used to read one of the books in class, hiding the book behind the text book we were supposed to have open in the class at the time. I don’t remember Sr. Anthony ever catching me.
In the fall of 1960 I got interested in politics. John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon were vying for the position of President of the United States. My parents were both Democrats at the time and supported Kennedy. He was a Roman Catholic which drew interest among Catholics. In addition he was younger than any recent presidents. The Democratic Party held a rally for him in Omaha and I asked my mother if I could miss a little school to attend the rally. She said no, but also explained the Kennedy himself wasn’t going to be present at the rally. That fall Kennedy won.
In 6th Grade I had Sister Dolorita again, but it wasn’t as bad as 4th Grade because I knew what to expect from her. One of the things she introduced in class was a game called Dr. IQ. The subject was geography and the idea was for each of the students to write questions on a scrap of paper they thought would stump the other students. All the questions were placed in a box so they would be withdrawn at random. I don’t remember how the first Dr. IQ was chosen, but Dr. IQ would hold that position until he was stumped by one of the questions. The student who was responsible for writing that question would become the new Dr. IQ. The person in the position of Dr. IQ would hold that position until stumped by a question. I liked the subject of geography, so managed to hold the position quite a long time.
At Christmastime we put on a play called The Small One. It is a story about a little boy who has a donkey he loves but if forced to sell it to provide food for the family. The donkey isn’t very big and the boy has trouble finding a buyer. He even tries to sell the donkey at auction, but without luck. Finally a man named Joseph buys the donkey so his pregnant wife, Mary, won’t have to walk to Bethlehem. In the play, I played the part of the auctioneer, a role W.C. Fields for which would have been ideal. (Go away, kid, you bother me.)
In 6th Grade I first became interested in the Air Force Academy after reading a novel about an Air Force Cadet. I had never been in an airplane but I thought it would be a grand adventure to fly.
I also became interested in a girl name Denise, but she didn’t reciprocate. In a previous year, I had a lengthy conversation with her while walking home from school. I should have seized the opportunity to develop a closer relationship then.
Denise
It was when I was in 6th Grade that the world was supposed to end. Obviously it didn’t. I talk about that time in the chapter entitled: Boy Faces End of the World.I remember 7th Grade as being a rather fun year. I don’t remember who we had for a teacher. I know we had a lay teacher at least part of the year and possibly the whole year.
Sometime during the year the teacher moved me from the back of the room to the front row because I had been talking too much with my friend Tom Donahue. We talked about important things like how to make homemade firecrackers.
In 7th Grade I served on safety patrol. Why the school chose the 7th rather than the 8th grade for this task I’ll never know. Each of us were assigned to an intersection near the school and our job was to stand in the middle of the street with our arms outstretched whenever school children needed to cross the street. We were given a white belt and a metal badge to wear while on duty. We were to man our posts about 15 minutes before and after school. We also did duty during lunch period, but I don’t remember how long. One perk that went with safety patrol was a free lunch as I mentioned before.
At the beginning of the school year so many boys and girls volunteered that each kid had duty every other week. When the chill of the Nebraska winter arrived many kids (mostly boys) dropped out of safety patrol. I stuck it out.
By spring I was getting rather tired of safety patrol, sometimes I wouldn’t bother to put on the belt. One day, while on post at the corner of Cass and 25th street after school, I decided to pass the time by throwing rocks at a sign on the far side of 25th St. The sign was attached to a temporary wall that obscured a construction site. While I concentrated on improving my accuracy I heard a car slow down. I turned to look at the car. It was a police car and the officer driving it gave me a dirty look, but drove on. I was glad I didn’t have my safety belt on that time.
I did get in trouble from time to time in 7th Grade. When we did, the teacher would send us to the coat closet between the 7th and 8th grade classrooms. We would have to stay there until she told us we could return to class. We would then have to stay after school and do a punish lesson or some other task. One time our punishment was to rake the leaves on the convent grounds.
It was not fun to have to stay after school, but, if more than one of use were banished to the closet we had a good time talking about various things.
Second Floor Plan
One of the biggest events which occurred while I was in 7th Grade was the Cuban Missile Crisis. I also tell this story in Boy Faces End of the World. Historians seem to agree that during those couple of weeks in October 1962, the United States came the closest to becoming engaged in a nuclear war.One thing I remember about 7th grade is that the literature we were required to read got more interesting. In first grade we had the simplistic Fun with Dick and Jane readers. As I progressed through the grades, the stories became longer and the vocabulary expanded. One of the characters with a recurring appearance was Zeke. I think was sort of a bum or at least lived by himself with no mention of his occupation. The hero in the story, usually a boy, would come to Zeke for advice. Zeke would share his wisdom while they ate some baked potatoes.
In 7th Grade, however, we were introduced to more classic literature like Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving. I enjoyed reading that type of literature.
Eight Grade was anticlimactic. I don’t think we covered much new material. The push was to prepare us for some entrance exams which would determine if we could get into one of the “better” Catholic High Schools. For the girls this meant Mercy High, Marian High, or Notre Dame Academy. For the boys the choice schools were Creighton Prep and Bishop Rummel. I wanted to go to Bishop Rummel. The school was just opening up. In the fall of 1964 the first freshman class would enter. In subsequent years new freshman classes would be added. This meant that the first freshman class would never have upperclassmen to contend with. Unfortunately I didn’t qualify for either school.
My teacher in 8th Grade was the same one I had in 1st Grade, Sister Geraldine Marie. She was also the principal of St. John’s. I have no idea how she was chosen for that position. My mother thought that she was an ideal 1st Grade teacher and should have retained that position. The principal was often called away to deal with other matters and that is probably why the principal taught the 8th graders. Presumably those students could be trusted to work on their own when the principal was called away.
Because the principal had responsibilities other than teaching, she would often tap students from class to do jobs for her. Almost every Friday afternoon she would assign me and another boy to burn trash. There was an incinerator behind the convent and we would feed it trash when the trash in the incinerator had burnt down enough to add more. This would take a couple of hours and it was a lot more fun than sitting in the classroom.
There was one week, maybe two, when Sister Geraldine had to be away from the school. She chose my mother to substitute. Needless to say I didn’t act up in class during that time. My mother was certified to teach, but, with six kids to look after, she was a stay at home mom. By the time I entered 8th grade, all six of us were in school, five at St. John’s and my older sister at Notre Dame Academy.
My mother majored in history in college because she enjoyed the subject. She decided to give the class a history test. We were studying U.S. History at the time. I received the high score which was a “C”. I think that was indicative of the apathy the class had toward studying that year.
While in 8th Grade I enjoyed a lot of freedom. My grandmother (maternal), had died during the summer of 1963. As a result, my parents allowed me to stay with my grandfather. I was supposed to be helping him out. This went on for about three months until my grandfather sold his house and moved in with us.
During that time I was pretty much free from daily parental oversight. If I had to stay after school, my parents wouldn’t find out. I didn’t push my luck too far though.
When my grandfather moved in with us, I would go home every day for lunch during the horse racing season. My grandfather was hard of hearing and there was one particular handicapper who gave his picks on the radio that my grandfather followed. I would write down the handicapper’s picks for each race.
One day, when my parents were out, a Father Furlong called. When I notified my parents that the priest had called, they looked at me suspiciously, thinking I’d been too involved with horse racing. As it turned out, Fr. Furlong was for real. He was the superintendent of Cathedral High School and was calling my parents about my admission to Cathedral High.
One of my favorite things to do when I was in eighth grade was to go to the Goodwill and St. Vincent de Paul resale stores. My friend, Bruce Atkinson had bought a used BB pistol at one of the two stores and I always hoped I could find a similar treasure. I had a bicycle I shared with my two brothers, although I rode it the most. By eighth grade my parents had relaxed the restrictions on where I could go and how long I could be gone. At least once a week I check out the second hand stores or the coin shops downtown. I also had a coin collection.
How my brothers and I acquired the bicycle is an interesting aside. I think we got it the year before I entered 8th grade. I would have been 12, my brother Pat 9 and my brother Tom would have been 8. Although my parents couldn’t afford to buy us bicycles, my mother would not skimp on shoes. She felt that our feet should have proper support, and she bought us shoes at a special shoe store. This store decided to have a contest where they give away a boy’s bicycle to whomever came closest to guessing the number of beans in a jar. The guy who ran the contest said my brothers and I were about equally closest to the correct number so he gave us the bike. I rode it the most when we got it because it fit me the best. My brothers were still a little small. We would lose the bike a year or two after I started high school. My brother, Pat, had been riding it. He was thirsty and left the bike in the yard while he when inside to get a drink of water. When he returned it was gone. Such theft was common in the part of Omaha where we lived. Today I still cringe at the thought of package delivery services leaving packages on the front stoop and leaving.
We had an eighth grade picnic at the end of the year. It was held at Elmwood Park in Omaha. That park had a stream that ran through it which was kind of neat. Being an urban park, however, the water was polluted. Nevertheless, there were some interesting trails that followed the stream. By 8th grade there were some boys and girls who’d paired up. I, however, was pretty shy and the hormones had yet to kick in. I think our chaperones had set up a dance as part of the festivities and I didn’t want to participate. Sharon Cole even sought me out and tried to persuade me, but I refused.
What was really amusing though is that the boys who had paired up with girls were anxious to “explore” the park with their partner. The chaperones instead insisted that we play a game of softball first. I think every kid in the class did their best to throw the game. It was fun to those boys I knew were skilled at sports deliberately “take a dive”. For instance one boy heading into home plate dropped to his knees just short of the plate so he would be tagged out.
On May 27, 1964, our eighth grade graduation ceremony was held at St. John’s Church. My graduating class is pictured below.
