If you are a regular visitor to “1076
Reflections”, you’ll probably notice that Frank Raispis’ name pops up
frequently. There are two obvious reasons for that.
The first is because of the significant
role Frank played in the modern history of Saint Ignatius. He was the first lay principal, 20 years
before another layman would be given that position. Frank was the first recipient of the Raymond
T. Grant Educator-of-the-Year Award.
Who knows how many times he would have received that award if there
hadn’t been a rule that a teacher could only receive it once? He was also an early recipient of the prestigious Golden
Apple Award.
He held so many offices at S.I.C.P.,
it’s difficult to keep count. For
example, in 1965, the yearbook lists him as Administrative Assistant to the
Principal, College Counselor, English II, Greek III and IV
and Latin IV.
The second reason that his name
appears so often in my articles is that I know Frank well. Besides being a colleague for over 50 years,
I was blessed to have driven Frank to school every morning for 25 of those
years. In that time, I got to learn a
lot about what made him the man and teacher he was. I often teased Frank that he had the ability
to put students into a trance-like state, so that the same young people who
balked at “doing the dishes” or “taking out the garbage” at home would help
him work in the gardens at school, or carry a sudan chair (with someone in it)
on the Walk-for-Ignatius.
Did you know that, when Frank was in
his 70’s, three senior girls invited him to be their escorts at their senior
prom. He was grateful for the honor,
but respectfully declined.
What I didn’t know was that two
generous benefactors, Sam (’61) and Mimi Krug have created an endowment
for the formation of the Frank Raispis Chair in the Classics at Ignatius
by pledging a $500,000 matching gift.
I normally steer clear of anything
that has to do with fund-raising…because I would be really bad at it. However, it occurred to me that many folks,
who have such fond memories of Frank but aren’t aware of this program, might
want to show their love and appreciation for all Frank has meant to Saint
Ignatius by making a contribution.
If you are interested, you could either
contact geoffrey.hammond@ Ignatius.org. or send a check to ST. IGNATIUS
COLLEGE PREP with the designation to FRANK
RAISPIS CLASSICS CHAIR ENDOWMENT.
