Dear Sister Alumnae,

The first six months as your Alumnae Relations Coordinator has been exciting indeed! I have been delightfully surprised by the number of people I have met in just this short while who have some connection to Oakland Catholic. Each person has a little story to tell or memory to share that makes me realize this job is all about “people connections”. The Alumnae from Oakland Catholic, Our Lady of Mercy Academy, Sacred Heart and St. Paul Cathedral High Schools are a fascinating and dynamic group of women. I love to hear about your experiences and successes after high school, and want to thank you for staying in touch with us.

The “people connections” I have made come in a variety of forms. Whether it is a friendly phone call inquiring about a future reunion, a note from a proud parent with news about her daughter’s accomplishments, an email update from our direct Alumnae Update on the OC website, or attending my own high school 30th reunion a few months ago, the “people connections” have been tremendous. Two connections that I made really took me by surprise.

I received a phone call from a former grade school teacher of my siblings, Mrs. Robin Ruggiero Kivinski, SHHS ‘62, after the Summer OC Review was mailed. She recognized my maiden name and wanted to know how my siblings were. Although it has been quite a while since she lived in Pittsburgh, she still wanted to know all the news about her old home, and what was going on at OC.

A few months later, I received an email from a gentleman, Bob Dompka, who is the brother of Mary Elizabeth Dompka Puhl, SPC ‘39. His sister shared the OC Summer Review with him and after reading my introductory letter he recognized both my maiden and married names. As it turns out, he and his siblings went to St. Paul Cathedral Grade School and then went on to Central Catholic and St. Paul Cathedral High Schools, with either my parents or my in-laws. His younger brother was even the assistant to the pastor at St. Bede Church, when I was a little girl! You can’t make up those kinds of “people connections”!

I am working on ways, through many of your suggestions, to connect with alumnae of all ages and from all four of the schools. I feel blessed to have a job where my relationships with people drive the success of our Alumnae Association. My goal is to connect with all of our Alumnae, and with your help this will be possible.

We are trying new ways to reach out to Alumnae and we are always open to fresh ideas.
- We recently hosted the first annual Young Alumnae Night, for the last four graduating classes from OC. Sixty enthusiastic young alumnae attended and had a wonderful time talking and laughing for hours.
- Rudolph’s Run – A summer race/walk event is in the planning stages, to gather alumnae from all four schools, of any age group. Look for future mailings about this.
- With the completion of the OCHS renovations slated for the fall of 2008, we hope to see many of you at the dedication activities.

It is an exciting time for anyone to be connected to OC!

High School was such a time of transition for all of us. The friends we made along the way, whether they were peers, faculty, or staff, helped to shape the adults we are today. There have been a total of 10 reunions, that I am aware of, since I took this position in June 2007. I have already spoken to 11 reunion classes about their reunion plans for this coming year, but there is a potential for 31 reunions, among the four schools. Talk about “people connections”! I encourage all of you to attend your reunions, it is well worth the time. You have a lot more in common with your former classmates than you think, trust me! If you need help getting a reunion started, please feel free to contact me and I will assist in any way that I can. I look forward to hearing about your lives, so please stay in touch.

If you have contact information for people who we may have lost touch with, we welcome all updates. If you have had a recent reunion and would like to send me the updated list of your classmates, I will be happy to enter them into our data base. I am excited about future “people connections” and hope to meet many of you in person in the very near future.

Regards,
Mary Jo (Haupt) Goldcamp
SHHS ‘77