Advancement News

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 em ployees 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.”

Late alum gives school generous gift

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. Gary Karas Knight said. 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.

DiGiuseppe Scholarship will benefit students in need

When Gary DiGiuseppe died on “Five of us spent a lot of time at Gary’s an Arkansas highway in June, house, and I remember the organ in the 2016, the victim of an early morn family’s living room,” Bentley said. “We ing wrong-way driver, his family would take our band instruments with us, was devastated. and spend time playing.” But his sister Carol DiGiuseppeAnother high school friend, Mark Miller, Zuniga and his parents Leonard recalled DiGiuseppe. “He was a very and Virginia, are establishing a smart guy and was active in school, and scholarship in his name to benefit was also very quiet,” Miller said. the De La Salle Collegiate tuition Following high school, DiGiuseppe at assistance fund. The family hopes tended the University of Michigan, and to aid at least three students. later transferred to Eastern Michigan DiGiuseppe, a 1973 alumnus, was University. He began writing for various a reporter for Little Rock radio agricultural publications, becoming an station, KARN when his life was on-air agricultural reporter, and lived all cut short. He was well-known in over the Midwest. the area for his reporting, particu DiGiuseppe had been in Little Rock for larly of agricultural news. approximately 15 years at the time of Although DiGiuseppe had attend his death. He was survived by his wife ed the Roeper School in Oakland Mary, now deceased, and three children. County through eighth grade, his DiGiuseppe’s brother, Joseph, died of sister says her parents, particularly Gary DiGiuseppe ‘73 leukemia the summer before Gary’s senior her mother, wanted Gary to attend year; DiGiuseppe’s son, Andrew, was 5 high school at De La Salle and when he died in a car accident. experience a Christian Brothers’ education. “Gary really had his share of heartbreak,” DiGiuseppe“Gary had skipped a grade,” DiGiuseppe-Zuniga said. Zuniga said. “My mother had attended Dominican and believed that “Gary DiGiuseppe is another alumnus who went out and the structure of the all-boys’ environment and the De La made a difference,” said Greg Esler, the school’s major Salle academic program would be good for Gary.” gifts officer. “He was well respected at the national level During high school, he was involved with the school’s as a broadcaster and journalist and was an icon in the jazz and concert bands, the Wig and Mask Society in Little Rock area.” the pit orchestra as well as backstage, and the school “I hope we do some good and help kids who need finan yearbook. A talented musician, he played both piano and cial support,” DiGiuseppe-Zuniga said. clarinet. Classmate Kevin Bentley recalled spending time at the gesler@delasallehs.com DiGiuseppe home in St. Clair Shores. To make a donation, contact Esler at 586.541.6254 or

CBA creates reflection garden

After years of planning, the Christian Brothers Auxiliary has created a new Reflection Garden near the main en trance at De La Salle Collegiate. The permanent granite monument is in the shape of a flame, the symbol of eternal life. The wording reads: “We are the light of the world. Let your light shine before all.” (Matthew 5:16) The eternal flame recognizes those women of the past, those of the present, and those still to come. An adjacent stone reads: Reflection Garden Honoring the Legacy of the Christian Brothers Auxiliary Founded 1926 The memorial project was installed in late August, and overseen by Brother Robert Deary. Bro. Robert devoted hours to design and installation oversight, as well as planting the annuals to help beautify the area. The CBA also plans to install permanent stone benches. The project will be dedicated at the CBA’s October general meeting. Leslie Cahill, a former CBA president, first proposed the project in 2012 as a way to recognize the CBA in a more visible way on the school campus. The project was put on hold for several years during upgrades to the school’s parking lot and tree plantings. In addition to Cahill, CBA past presidents Jan Thomas and Mary Chris Chapp, championed the project. Since the CBA’s founding, the CBA members have volunteered thousands of hours, and have raised over $2 million for the school. The CBA is a very active organization built on traditions that date back to 1851 when the founding women met to meet the needs of the Christian Brothers who were here to educate the young men in the Detroit area. From that time, the CBA has expanded its mission to include fundraising events to support the needs of De La Salle Collegiate and its students. The CBA today is made up of many dedicated women, from new recruits and freshman moms, to the more experienced members who stay on long after their sons have graduated.