A family affair

Iremember the time distinctly. It was 1980. Growing up in Orrington, Maine and going to Center Drive School, I was trying to decide where I would go to high school. And I had choices.

Did you know that nine of our board members are also graduates of our school?

We shared five of them in the Spring edition of The Round Table. Here are four more.

I had an entire generation before me that had attended John Bapst. I heard the stories from my mother and many aunts and uncles who had gone to Bapst in its heyday in the forties and fifties - the stories of football games against Bangor and Brewer, basketball games at the Bangor Auditorium (the old, old auditorium), the coffee parties, winter carnivals, spring musicals, the glee club performances...I heard it all.

I thought my choice was made for me when the Diocese of Portland made the decision to close John Bapst. Fortunately there were people like Earle Hannigan, Joe Sekera, Bill Lindsey, and Col. John MacKay who saw the importance of the school for the community and high school education in the greater Bangor area. They had the foresight and the intestinal fortitude to push forward and reopen the school just a few short months after it was closed. I know they each took a tremendous personal and financial risk had the venture failed. I see each of them as heroes.

I went to step-up day at Brewer and John Bapst during my eighth grade year. I wanted a great education to make me desirable in college admissions and I wanted to play competitive sports (in high school and beyond). After each visit I went home and listed the positives and negatives of each school, but there was only one real choice--John Bapst. I was so impressed after the visit that I announced my decision to my parents. They were a little skeptical because of the shaky financial footing that Bapst was under at the time, worried the school may fold during my tenure and I would have to change schools. However they both supported my decision. The rest is history. I matriculated in the fall of 1981 and graduated in 1985.

Sports have always been very important to me and I wasn’t sure about the athletic program at Bapst – with the closing and reopening, no one knew what that meant for sports. Things went just fine: while I never won a state championship at Bapst, I did play in two Eastern Maine Basketball Tournaments at the Bangor Auditorium. My senior year we finished first in the Heal Point standings and entered the Eastern Maine Basketball Tournament ranked #1. I also played in two Eastern Maine baseball playoffs, reaching the Eastern Maine semifinals in my senior year.

From Bapst I went on to graduate from the University of Vermont in 1989, where I played Division 1 college baseball for the Catamounts, and then I graduated from University of Vermont College of Medicine in 1996.

Presently I practice medicine in Greenville, SC. When I look back on my high school choice and ask myself, ‘did I make the correct decision?’ the answer is clear – yes, I did!

– Patrick J. Culumovic ‘85, MD, FACS

First, in 1928, it was John Bapst High School. Then, in 1980, it became John Bapst Memorial High School. Over the years and through the changes, our school has witnessed many students pass through its doors and down its hallways. Some have come alone, the first member of a family enrolled. Others have come joining brothers or sisters already here. Still others have come, following mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles long graduated. Upon arrival, they may have attended classes on a boys’ side or a girls’ side. They might have met others coming from towns well beyond Bangor or countries well beyond our own. Regardless of how and why and from whence they came, all quickly were unified as part of the John Bapst community, a community that lasts well beyond graduation.

Generation 1

Generation 3

Generation 2

Are you a part of a John Bapst multigenerational family? Consider sharing your story. Please contact us at info@johnbapst.org, with “Family Affair” in the subject line. We’d love to share your family’s story.