Advancement News Late alum gives school generous gift BOT, continued from page 6
Student Council vice president his senior year, and continued to be involved at his alma mater, playing regularly in the annual alumni basketball tournament each March. “It’s an honor to even be considered for the Board,” he said. Cahill is a member of the Pilot Bar Association and currently lives in Detroit. Rubino, who recently welcomed his fourth child with wife Marisa, owns the Pilot Property Group, a real estate firm in Sterling Heights. Rubino played soccer at De La Salle, and then at Saginaw Valley, before transferring to Wayne State University and majoring in marketing. During his college years, he coached the freshman and JV soccer teams. During college, Rubino connected with some other alumni for an internship. His interest in real estate was sparked, and he began PPG in 2007. He has grown the company slowly, adding one broker almost every year. His employees now include Jimmy Diehl ’07, and Joe Pellerito ’82, father of alumnus Mac Pellerito ‘16. Rubino has been heavily involved with the newly-formed Pilot Business Association.He has continued to stay in touch with the school, and continues to connect with other alumni. “The strongest impact of De La Salle on me was the relationships,” he said. “I still connect with people I went to school with, and it’s like we just graduated. I want to make sure the school grows and prospers. I want my fiveyear-old son to have the same great positive experience I had.”
Family and friends of the late Gary Karas gathered at De La Salle Collegiate in early May to celebrate the memory of the 1969 alumnus who passed in October 2018. His classmate, Alan Rudziewicz, who handles the Karas Trust, presented De La Salle with a generous gift, in keeping with Karas’s wishes. “Just as De La Salle impacted Gary’s life, this gift will impact the lives of our current students,” President John M. Knight said.
Gary Karas 1969 Yearbook photo
Rudziewicz said that Karas’s estate gave a sizeable donation to Children’s Hospital of Michigan. “Gary was very fond of De La Salle,” Rudziewicz said. “He wanted to help the students of De La Salle, and thought that he would best accomplish that by leaving the school a gift in his estate planning.” The donation is also in the name of Karas’s late father, Alex, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II, in an infantry unit that traces its roots back to the U.S. Civil War. His father was very proud of his service. “We appreciate all the work that Alan Rudziewicz did to make this gift happen,” said Greg Esler, De La Salle’s major gifts officer. John Monigold, director emeritus of alumni relations, knew Karas as a high school freshman, and reconnected with him in later years. “Gary loved De La Salle, and the De La Salle experience,” Monigold said. Karas who was born in Hamtramck, worked as a logistics engineer with the U.S. Government. He worked at the TACOM location in Warren during his entire career, and received commendations for his work with the military. Karas had three sisters who live out of state; he never married and had no children.
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