Saint Thomas Aquinas School
This school located on du Couvent street taught grades one to eleven. It was an English Catholic school frequented by students living in Saint Henri. Some students also lived in Ville Emard , N.D.G. and the Pointe. Those of us who lived in the Glen area had to walk to and from school four times a day. We walked home for lunch, a distance of over four (4) kilometers each day.
We walked, rain, snow, shine or minus 20. Those who took public transportation ( tramway street cars) to school were allowed to bring their lunch. We thought they were so fortunate to stay at school and eat their lunch, while we had to slosh it home.
Being catholic, we were obligated to go to the 07:00 mass at the Saint Thomas Aquinas church, on the first Friday of every month and have communion. To have communion, one had to fast since 12:00 the previous night so it was quite a trick to attend church , run home for a quick breakfast, and get back to school for 08:45. It kept one in pretty good shape. We did not take a lunch to school because only those taking public transportation were allowed to eat lunch at school. Also, going to a French church that was closer was frowned upon, because the teachers preferred we attend at St. Thomas.
Despite all that, we managed.
The principal at school was Mr. Foy. He had a very strong presence, unquestionable authority and was very respected as were most all of the other teachers.
Some of the other teachers were Miss Forhan, Mrs. Hennesy, Mr. Costanzo, Mr. Stuart, Mr. Macknik, Mr. Dowd, Mr Glashan, Mr. Backie, and Mr. Whittick. Mr. Welbourne, Mr. Griffin, ---
The school organized sports activities such as softball and hockey, which were played in the schoolyard. Volleyball was played in the gym, as was boxing on rainy days.
The schoolyard was bordered on three sides by le couvent des soeurs on convent street, l’hospice Saint Henri in the rear, and the Saint Thomas Aquinas Girls school on the other wall. Mr. Law the caretaker-janitor lived in a corner residence of the yard.
The yard was made of cement and gravestones, which discouraged sliding to be safe.
The names of the teams were derived from animals, tigers, wildcats, eagles, bulldogs etc.
I always remember watching Mr. Welbourne play goalie without skates because he could not skate.
Eddy Johnson of Boston fame played goalie for the school team. He was very talented and was destined for great things.
The annual school fair was a very popular event. This activity was held in The Aquinas Hall and booths were set up selling a variety of goods. I always went to the fudge booth to purchase the very delicious fudge.
The Aquinas Hall was also used to show movies on Saturday afternoon for a 10 cent entry fee. Mr. Lamer who was the church caretaker was the projectionist. His son Wilfred was in our class.
The Saint Thomas parish priests were father O’Kane and father Penny.
There are a lot more school memories but we will not go any further for now.
