Group photo: Divine Redeemer School graduation,1963

On Tuesday, June 21, this photo of the Divine Redeemer School graduating class of 1963 was posted by Maria Notarianni on the Good Samaritan Parish Archives' Facebook page. The photo was taken on the Divine Redeemer Church steps.

The photo brought back a flood of memories. That's me, Nancy Bohinsky, third row from the bottom, far right, wearing lovely white, cat-eye glasses.

Divine Redeemer School graduation
1963
courtesy of Good Samaritan Parish Archives

Here's the list of all the students in the photo:

Bottom row: Joseph Gallik, David Yanko, Martha Farkasovsky, Mary Dzubak, Barbara Kutzko, Thomas Bercik, John Sofranko

Second row: Sister Melania Papso, Joseph Meshanko, Susan Hrusko, Mary Ann Butrey, Margaret Mary Pavicic, Daniel Fornadel

Third row: Marilyn Kozak, Margaret Barlow, Jane Presto, Marlene Vukovcan, Debbie Hlozek, Nancy Bohinsky

Fourth row: Antoinette Shorter, Jane Burke, Stephen Sikirica, Thomas Sofranko, James Sofranko

Top row: Stephen Farkasovsky, JoAnn Husar, Mary Ann Shvach, Karen Mikush, Stephen Sinchak

Most of us had survived spent eight or nine years together at Divine Redeemer School. We then separated and went to several different area public or parochial schools for 9th through 12th grades. Since some of my classmates didn't belong to Divine Redeemer Church, I never saw a few of them again after our graduation day.

Maria wanted to know why we wore those long dresses. Honestly, I'd wiped our wearing them at graduation out of my mind. If I remember correctly, those were the same dresses, and wreaths, we wore in 40-hour devotion processions in 7th and 8th grade. The lower grade girls wore shorter dresses for processions.

Other than "tradition," does anyone remember any reason we would have worn those dresses?

Divine Redeemer School ceased to exist in 1969 when it merged with the St. Stanislaus and St. Veronica schools to create the Ambridge Area Catholic School. Divine Redeemer's school building housed grades 4 through 6 of the consolidated school system.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh closed Divine Redeemer Church in 1994.

Only one Roman Catholic Church remains open in Ambridge--Good Samaritan, which occupies the former St. Veronica buildings. Ambridge no longer has any R.C. parochial schools; the last one, Good Samaritan, was closed in 2005.