Seniors reconnect at annual Christmas lunch

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. -- At the annual Senior Alumni Christmas luncheon in December, new attendees among the nearly 200 present included several members of De La Salle Collegiate’s Class of 1969. 

The group included Alan Rudziewicz, who has been active with De La Salle for several years, along with Ed Green, Larry Hearn, Dennis Scully, and Mark Scheible. The annual holiday lunch provides at opportunity for senior alums from De La Salle and St. Joseph to gather in fellowship.

Rudziewicz and fellow 1969 alumnus Mark Wojcik have tried to organize a 50th reunion but without success, so the luncheon provided an opportunity to catch up. 

“I think it’s great,” Rudziewicz said. “We picked up right where we left off when we left school. We are telling stories non stop. The same thing was true of the homecoming Saturday alumni dinner this past October.” 

Following graduation from De La Salle, Rudziewicz attended Western Michigan University, and later the Detroit College of Law. He is a partner in the law firm of Strobl and Sharp in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., headed by Tom Strobl, ’60. Another attorney in the firm is Jay LaBarge ’93.. 

Rudziewicz, who specializes in estate planning and real estate, has worked with Alumni Director Dennis Koch in forming the Pilot Bar Association, and with Major Gifts Officer Greg Esler in facilitating a major gift from his 1969 classmate, the late Gary Karas. 

Rudziewicz’s son, Darren, is a ’98 De La Salle alumnus, and now lives in Arlington, Virginia, where he is a banking attorney with the FDIC. Another son, Brandon, attended Brother Rice.  

Green commented he was happy to be at the gathering, and to reconnect with classmates, some of whom he last saw on graduation day 50 years ago. Green is a retired chemist from General Motors. He earned his degree from Michigan State University. 

A retired physical therapist for handicapped children in the Waterford School District, Hearn attended several football games last fall. He earned his degree from Western Michigan University. 

An accountant with the federal government and with Wayne County, Scully has attended the Christian Brothers Dinner the last two years. His degree is from Wayne State University, but he notes the last time he saw some classmates was at graduation. 

Proudly noting his class ring still fits, Scheible is a retired real estate broker, and was also communications manager for the Michigan Osteopathic Association. He, too, is a Wayne State graduate. Scheible has also attended recent Christian Brothers Dinners. 

Rudziewicz laughed as Scheible displayed his class ring.

“He must have had it sized right back then,” Rudziewicz said. 

The 1969 contingent at the luncheon was small, but Rudziewicz noted they all earned degrees and had professional positions.

“The education we got at the school,” he said, “and what it led to is a testament to the teachers at De La Salle and what they did for us.”
 

Seniors reconnect at annual Christmas lunch
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