O Dea High School - Olympian Yearbook (Seattle, WA)

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1 f T LQ 1 W is .T T - lbjglfg 7362 H-,1J,5.ff5-,: - ir ' QT-.CL 7 fj'.fl -1- Elf: aij'?.1'E , E M --rf I : ...I km 'Monsignor isteffprdqz I Whenthis cefntury was'in'itsf teens, therewas 'one Father jan-ies ,Gordon 'Sraffordwhonsaw the need for a Catholic 'lboys' high schoiol due to the overcrowding ofa the Cathedral ,grammrar and girls' liigli school, For four years Father 'Stafford had longed for a boys' school' and1now.W2iS the time to' act., He purchased the half block of' property fdirectly behindf. the 'Cathedral,, alongside therland then 'used for the Sisters' h,Qrne,- attlie cost of S435 QOOL He hadneight houses fe- U lmoved which were located there.- Eor 'therecreation ,of the boys' he built two spacious, cornered handball courts: A Screiy needed lplayground was leveled f6r use bf the grarnihef school until the .high school was completed. 'F-ethefstafford' lanxied a Sffructufe of oiifsliandiri beau ' . . . .P ,. . .S W and usefulness' with the :help and deVtern1,ina1:lon'that'tljis .great parish :could offer our young men. He did this inf spice sift the burden of over -a quarter of a'rni1lion-doIlars- Hwhichthe whale undertaking would Place 1412013115533 and his people.. 'By the Lend of the schoolg year 1923, ,alarge arnpuznt of -the preparatory work' had already been completed: The house at l.0213'Mari6n Street had been' enlarged and biiprbved as ,a home, for the Holy 'Names Sistersr Tlrieir Qld house on 'Ferry and Colm-dbia'rstre'ets wfastorn down to rnakelroom forthe new school. A hciise an 1003 Marion Street' had also been bought- and renovatedl This -was for, the use of 1the'Christi'arn Brothers oflreland, who were-asked to. staff the new school. 'Beezer .Brothers were employed' as architects and Henricksonf- Aelstrom Construction Company were the contractors. The 'building plans were drawn up and finally' approved and-work was begunon the new edifice in June-N 19234 .Bi1i'lders- andl architects co-operated in. seeing that the bestfof material and the most painstaking workmanship went into' the building and She result wasga- structure- of which the whole ,city was, prion a . The new 'building was able to be 'dedicated less than auyear ' .after the actual wotkfhad begun, Tfhe..ce1tem0I1Y tack place ion' March 16, 1924. His Iiordship, Bishqpglidward I. O'Dear presided at vespersgrhaf day and Bishop JQHHQP. canon preached .on Catholic educatzion. Fdlldwingftheseryice an the Cathedral, prelates, priests, altar boys, students and? teachers .of the new school marched to' the 'building in procession. There his Lordship blessed the 3P01fES-lS'e!iQ IQQIHSQ- AS' Q- 6514291 Ui SFS-Tleflll fC5PeClQf1'55'1'.the parish, the BishQp's name was given to the new institution: After' the 'dedication the publiowgas then invited to inspect 32116 Sfmdeilze-. ' The 'first Qfaculty was composed- of Brother Breen.'CEC,. Brother W alsh CFC, Brother Lynarn-'CFC, and Bfother?Ci1i'tis CFC, first principal. 'lfhe enrollment :from the ffirst lyean .numbered around? 130 :boysvwhigch.inolnded1'tl'1e seventh' and' 'eighth grade classes of the Carhed.iva1lSch'oo1. The football squad, had lil members. Basketball. had 10. Eplayers and the liasebalfl teain inurnberedl 13. O9De'a' H258 ,always ,heldf its own in sports and jhistory was made gin 1939' when participation in Canadiangfootball begant This game- was played against Vancouver College of V'ncouver-, also taught by the ,Brothersf a' rivalry that has continued down, through the ye arsz Besidesjthe big three, football, basl-cetballl, and baseball, there always were and always' will be lhany types of athletic activities- 'Most .of 'these .enjDy.edQperiQds of popularity and success but werefreplgaced by others in an atternptto find eomperitgda withbchers sdhlfiols, No sport 1-ias been more consistentat .O!Dea.' than 'football Whisih has beenieentiaueilly ee1:1iiefi..Q1iSihce the TSGT16Q1'S infancy to the present day. AfterrS0' Golden years of pioneer ing and testing, Edotball, Basketballt and Baseball have esfeblishedf themselves as best suited I9 me Qi'D'ea wash at life, while other sports have been relegated to the role of minor activitiesa

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the eginining A ommmw 2 'g He 1920's. A t

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Dedication of O'Dea High School March 16, 1924. In 1941, O'Dea students answered the call of their country. Many dropouts enlisted and others waited for graduation. Our men fought bravely and proudly and at the war's end, 24 had given their lives to defend America. By the early 1960's the science labs had become outmoded. Money was raised and work was begun in the summer. Vlfhen the hammering stopped, O'Dea labs rivalled those in any school in the city. By 1963 the Brothers' staff had become too large for the house on Marion Street. A fund drive was started, pro- perty bought and a new home was built on Columia Street. The Brothers were able to move in slightly more than a year after construction was started. In late 1968 enrollment had overflowed capacity. A build- ing committee was formed to plan an addition to the school. The diocese formed a fund drive in 1970 and over s300,000 was raised. Construction was begun on March 1, 1972 with ground break- ing cerernonies. Students found it hard to concentrate with constant construction noise, but forgot it when the building was opened in November of 1972. Formal dedication took place on january 21, 1973 with blessing by Archbishop Thomas A. Connelly. Attending were parents, students, alumni and incoming freshmen of 1973. An Early O'Dea Science Lab. 4