North Catholic Alumni's Memorial Day Mass and Day of Remembrance Ceremony
- Northeast Catholic Alumni Association
- May 26
- 2 min read
On Memorial Day, we remember and honor those men and women who not only served their country in time of war, but also gave everything in defense of our great country. The least the Northeast Catholic Alumni Association can do is to remember and honor our alumni brothers who went to war and never came home.
We held our annual Mass of Remembrance at Resurrection of Our Lord Church this morning, which was concelebrated by Rev James Dalton OSFS (Hon ’89), Rev Thomas Gallagher, OSFS ’56, Father Ed Rauch and Deacon Dennis Friel. A special thanks to Rev Marc Gherardi, Parochial Administrator at Resurrection Parish, and John Handley ‘58, the Alumni Association’s chairman of the Memorial Day Services. John spends a lot of time and effort to make sure both the mass and the Remembrance ceremony goes off without a hitch. Also, thank you to the readers at the mass, Jim Kelly ’70 (Alumni President) and Jeff Brown ’78 (Secretary and former President).
After the mass, everyone gathered at the alumni office for a short service, which included a short prayer service by Alumni Chaplain, Rev James Dalton (Hon ’89), and readings by Lou Szojka ’74 and Tom Morgan ’64, as well as a wreath laying at our Shrine to the Lady of Fatima, by Alumni President, Jim Kelly ’70. The service concluded with a three volley salute by the Philadelphia Police Honor Guard, followed by the playing of taps and ended with Piper, Brendan Dougherty, who played “Hector the Hero”, a Scottish song that honored Major-General Hector MacDonald, a distinguished Scottish general from the late 19th century.
Thank you to all the alumni, family and friends of Northeast Catholic who joined us for the mass and ceremony remembering and honoring our brothers who lost their lives defending the United States of America.
As a final thank you, we'd like to recognize Dean Nicoletti '80, from Bella Concrete, who quickly laid a new concrete pad in the yard of the alumni office in the weeks leading up to Memorial Day, as well as Don Houser '75, from DPH Landscaping, who had the lawn in excellent shape for our ceremony. Thanks to these two alumni brothers, the outside space at the alumni office looked better than it has in years.
To see photos from the mass and ceremony, click here.
