Like many other St. Michael's High School graduates, Randy Montoya's clearest memory of the school involves a Christian Brother.
Montoya, a 1982 graduate, was at the front of Brother Paul Walsh's chemistry classroom, sitting across a lab table from Walsh.
"Everybody had left," Montoya said. "I don't remember why I was there by myself with him.
"He just looked at me and said 'Have you ever considered the religious life?' "
The question took Montoya by surprise and even scared him a little. "I don't remember my response, frankly," Montoya said.
Montoya never did pursue a life in the priesthood, but he did think about it, especially while he was in his early 30s. Now 45 and married with two daughters, Montoya credits Walsh, and the school, with having a tremendous impact in his life.
He still asks his nephews — both students at the school — to get him new school T-shirts when his old ones wear out, and he follows the school's sports programs from Albuquerque.
He's found that being an alumnus of St. Michael's makes him part of a much larger community.
"I just found out my next door neighbor, who is 20 years older than me, he went to St. Mike's," Montoya said. He saw Montoya wearing one of his T-shirts.
This week, Montoya will make a trip to his alma mater. He and others are coming to celebrate the school's 150th anniversary.
Origins of an institution
In 1859, eight years after he arrived in Santa Fe to become the first archbishop, Jean Baptiste Lamy welcomed four Christian Brothers from France to the New Mexico Territory.
Brothers Hilarien, Gondulph, Geramius and Galmier Joseph had traveled for 2 1/2 months by ship, train and wagon in order to establish a school.
Lamy guaranteed funding for the school for two years, after which it would have to sustain itself. It would rely on student boarders for revenue. In November 1859, El Colegio de San Miguel started classes.
Over the next 10 years, the school served both boarders and day students, garnering enough revenue to operate and even have a small surplus.
By 1870, though, all but one of the founding brothers were gone and their replacements thought about closing the school. Enter Peter J. Schneider, a German Christian Brother who was known as Brother Botulph.
Brother Botulph was sent from New York to keep the school open. He recruited more brothers from across the United States to the school. He also persuaded Lamy to donate buildings and land to the Brothers.
The territorial legislature granted the school a charter in 1874. The College of the Christian Brothers of New Mexico was made official. St. Michael's handed out its first diplomas in 1876.
For more than a decade, Botulph led the charge to raise money for new buildings. The first one opened Nov. 1, 1878. The Lamy Building still stands on Old Santa Fe Trail.
A second building was constructed in the 1880s, but was used as the territorial capitol before the school started using it in 1889.
During the 1900s, the school weathered more difficulty — a new crop of French brothers arrived in 1916 upset the student body, causing a decrease in enrollment; World War I prompted the brothers to discontinue their college program; and a fire destroyed the third floor of the Lamy Building in 1926 — but the school survived.
The school moved to Siringo Road in 1967. It also welcomed girls from the Loretto Academy, which closed after the 1966-67 school year.
A year-long celebration
Starting this week and running throughout the rest of the year, St. Michael's will host events to celebrate its 150th anniversary.
Things kick off Thursday with Founders Day. There will be a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Michael Sheehan at 4:30 p.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
The school will host a reception and dedication of a statue of St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle at 6 p.m. on the St. Michael's campus. The Mass and reception are open to the public.
A Founders Day dinner is scheduled for 6:30 in the Tipton Sports Center. Tickets to the dinner are $60 a person.
John Pound is hoping he'll catch up with old friends there. The 1964 graduate attended the school when it was all boys and the Christian Brothers had a much more prominent role than they do today.
Like Montoya, Pound's most vivid memories involve the brothers. He can rattle off stories about classroom antics, athletics and the long-vanished corporal punishment.
One experience, Pound said, taught students that brothers were not some special breed, but regular guys who chose their vocation.
It was spring and a number of students brought their baseball gloves to school. They'd throw a ball around at lunch. One day, Brother Augustine Readwin, a tall, athletic-looking man, watched as the boys played catch.
After awhile, one of the boys asked the brother if he wanted to join in. He demurred at first, but eventually said he would like to play.
"He threw the ball in such a way that (the student) took the glove off his hand, and he was shaking his hand," Pound said. Brother Augustine apologized and after some prodding admitted that he'd played high-school baseball and had been offered a contract with the New York Yankees.
All of Pound's stories, though, revolve around one thing. "They were good teachers," Pound said, "and they were good men."
In addition to Founders Day events, the school will throughout the spring and summer recognizing sports achievements by teams and individuals, and will hold a formal banquet honoring the 10 most outstanding teams or achievements of the last 150 years.
In September, the school will hold a community day in conjunction with the San Miguel Fiesta.
And during homecoming weekend, Oct. 9 to 11, the school will have a golf outing, gala, Mass and brunch, as well as St. Michael's homecoming football game.
Contact John Sena at 986-3079 or jsena@sfnewmexican.com.
IF YOU GO
What: St. Michael's High School Founders Day, Thursday
Where: Mass at Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Michael's High School
When: Mass at 4:30 p.m., reception at 6 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m.
Cost: Mass and reception are free. Tickets for dinner are $60 a person.
