St. Francis High School retirements

Mark Twain said it best,“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

Tom O’Malley did just that every time he stepped through the doors of St. Francis High School since 1983. “I don’t really consider it work, it’s really more of a vocation,” said Thomas O’Malley as we sat down to chronicle his some 36 years as a teacher at St. Francis High School.

It’s 1983 and O’Malley was being interviewed by former faculty member and English Department Chair, Pete Cavaretta. Before he was offered the job, the Principal Fr. Leon Krop, wanted to speak with him. “Fr. Leon said I really want to talk to you, but there’s something I have to do first, so go sit in the chapel.” O’Malley explains that he went into the chapel and that’s when he fell in love with the school. “It’s (the chapel) such a very special place and there is nothing like going to mass in the chapel. I thought to myself, ‘I really hope I get this job’.”

doing the school newspaper (The Banner) and the guys on the paper were geeks and they knew everything and they taught me a lot and that’s what got me started.”

While technology has grown at a rapid pace since the early 80’s according to O’Malley, “the students really haven’t changed that much, the world has changed but they are still St. Francis gentlemen.” O’Malley said that he never really had a lot of issues with students and that they want to learn. “I love the guys here, it’s special.”

What will he miss the most? “My colleagues, especially the English department. We are not just colleagues, we are friends.” O’Malley explains that he shared life experiences with his colleagues, marriages, and kids, “we lived life together in so many ways.”

He did get the job and now 36 years later he’s ready to start the next chapter of his life. What’s changed the most since 1983 when a gallon of gas cost $1.16? O’Malley says the use of computers and technology. “When I first got here we just started getting the old Apple II’s and I was lucky I got right onboard with those, I never took a course or anything. I was

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O’Malley said that he’s been at St. Francis for so long that now he’s teaching the sons of his students and he’s also taught many of his now colleagues who were once his students and have come back to teach at St. Francis. He’s also taught many of the current faculty at Canisius College.

An avid writer himself, O’Malley has been published often. He says he enjoys writing essays and short stories. He has been moderator of the Banner since he got to St. Francis in 1983. “We used computers right away, I really saw the potential for the use of computers in the classroom. It’s something I’ve really embraced.” He has also been moderator of the Odyssey, the schools literary magazine.

What does retirement look like? O’Malley says he will continue to teach at Canisius college two days a week and travel to see his sons Patrick’02 and Sean’04 who both live out of town and especially his seven grandchildren. “I’d like to go back to Europe and of course Assisi.” He was fortunate to go on Pilgrimage to Assisi in 2012.

No one ever really retires from St. Francis High School. “I plan on coming back and going to Mass in the Chapel”, said O’Malley. “I never felt like I really ever worked here, it was more my vocation, it is work, but it doesn’t feel that way when you love what you do.”

Since 2004 Mrs. Phyllis Baer has been a smiling face in the main office. As the attendance officer/secretary, she started working at St. Francis when her son Brian’06 was a sophomore. “I very much enjoy our young men here”, she said. “You have to be both compassionate and firm with them. I tell them when they come in late ‘Mrs. Baer won’t be there when you go to college to wake you up, so you’d better start being responsible”. She also works for the Dean of Students and handles the detentions. She says her pet peeve is hats, you’d better not have one on indoors.

Mrs. Baer says her retirement plans include helping her daughter with her children and spending more time with her husband Kevin’71. She will continue to bring Cupertino in to visit and she plans on taking classes with Cupertino so that he can become a Therapy Dog. “I plan to stay active here and of course help with Justinian.”

Mrs. LuAnn Starzynski, RN (or Mrs. Star as the boys refer to her) started her nursing career in 1974. In 2005 she became the school nurse at St. Francis High School. She says she hopes the boys will remember what she’s taught them about self-care, the basics. Eat well, sleep well and feel well.

What will retirement look like? “Three of my four adult children live out of town so I plan on traveling and visiting them and my granddaughter.” She says she will come back and sub at St. Francis from time to time. “I’m also going to volunteer as a ‘cuddler’ at the NICU at Mercy Hospital, and hold the preemies. Mercy Hospital is where I began my career 45 years ago.” She also said a medical mission trip is on the bucket list as well as trips to Sedona (AZ), Italy and Alaska.

God Speed Mrs. Star and safe travels!

The TAU | 15