2014 Dinner Honoree... A regular kid from a regular family on the East Side. While in grade school at St. Raymond’s in Detroit, Mark Wisniewski thought he’d follow in his older brothers’ footsteps and attend Austin High School. But Austin announced it was closing.. Thus Mark Wisniewski came to DLS as a Pilot. And has been a Pilot and bleeding purple ever since… “My uncle, Fr. Robert Wisniewski, was an Augustinian priest. He passed away in 1967 while training to be an Army chaplain. Ten years later, with the help of Fr. Bob’s fellow priests, and a very charitable ‘Augustinian’ discount, my two older brothers, Jim and Brian, attended Austin for their freshmen year in the Fall of 1977. In the Winter of 1978, Austin decided to close. With Austin set to close, where would the Wisniewski brothers attend high school? “A Catholic school was a requirement. My parents talked to some neighbors and co-workers. They visited Bishop Gallagher, Notre Dame, St. Clement, and De La Salle. To them, De La Salle was the obvious choice.” 6
Mark notes that De La Salle opened its arms to the students from Austin and to his family. “It was the De La Salle way back then, and it is still true today.” In the Fall of 1978, Jim and Brian, now sophomores, were joined by a third brother, Chris. Mark says, “In January of 1979, I was accepted to De La Salle. Below average height, below average weight, and to be honest, an average student academically.” At that time, tuition was about $1,000 per year, and in the Fall of 1979, four Wisniewski brothers would be at De La Salle. “Having four boys in the school at the same time would require unique financial skills for a family from the East Side of Detroit.” Mark tells the story of his father negotiating tuition. “With checkbook in hand, my father made the trip to see Br. Timothy Wentworth, who was then the Principal of De La Salle. One year earlier, it was to discuss the transfer of my brothers and tuition for three sons.”
Mark, his wife Mary and son Patrick Mark never knew the results of his father’s visit to DLS until several years later. By then, Mark was a college and law school graduate, and was serving on the Board of Trustees as President of the De La Salle Alumni Association. Mark says the board was considering tuition, and that Br. Kevin Gilhooly, who had been Principal at De La Salle and was then serving on the Board, said the conversation should always start with the question, “What more can we do as a Lasallian family to make sure that De La Salle is affordable for those who want to attend.” Mark recounts that Br. Kevin then told this story. ”Before I started my first year as Principal, the outgoing Principal told me about a father who came to him. The Principal recognized the uncertainty in the father’s face, and asked how he could help him. The father responded by thanking the Christian Brothers for all they had done for his first three sons, but told the principal how he was unsure he would be able to pay for his four sons who would attend De La Salle the following year. The principal said, well, as you know your first son was full price, your second son was 25% off, and your third son was 50% off. There is nothing in the handbook about a fourth son. So my reading of the handbook is your fourth son is free.“
