St Thomas More High School - Utopian Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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242 Lgiillbfl has 0 ST. TIHIMAS Mllllll l3iT'l'll0LlU IIIGII Slllllllll 7 I EDZMQZWI25' rim Urorllil or 1953 During The school year of I952-53, many memorable evenTs Took place aT ST. Thomas More. The greaTesT evenT oT The year, however, was The eIevaTion oT our esTeemed RecTor, DocTor Joseph G. Cox, To The rank oT domesTic prelaTe by His Holiness, Pope Pius XII. Needless To say, The news oT The RecTor's appoinTmenT broughT much happiness To everyone who has been connecTed in any way whaTsoever wiTh The school. We wish To express our graTiTude To The Holy FaTher and To His Excellency, Archbishop O'Hara, Through whom This honor came To ST. Thomas More. Monsignor Cox was born in Philadelphia. He aTTended The CaThedraI Parochial School and Roman CaTholic High School. Upon graduaTion Trom high school in I92I, he enTered ST. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook. He was ordained on May 29, I930, by his Eminence, The IaTe Dennis Cardinal DougherTy. As a sTudenT, Monsignor Cox was ouTsTanding in all his classes. His superiors in The Seminary Took cognizance oT his schoIasTic qualiTies, Tor shorTIy aTTer his ordinaTion he was assigned To TurTher his sTudies aT The CaTholic UniversiTy of America in Wash- ingTon, D. C., in The Tield of Canon Law. When he had compIeTed his specialized sTudies aT The CaTholic UniversiTy in I93I, Monsignor Cox was ap- poinTed assisTanT recTor oT SainT Agnes Parish, WesT ChesTer. ln The May oT The nexT year, he was named AssisTanT-SuperinTendenT oT The diocesan school sysTem. Eleven years laTer, he was appoinTed RecTor oT ST. Thomas More High School. IT was in June, I943, ThaT Monsignor Cox replaced Dr. Joseph V. SangmeisTer To become The second RecTor oT our school. The immediaTe and consTrucTive inTeresT ThaT he demonsTraTed in his new Task was evidenced by The way he prepared The school and iTs Iimi+ed TaciliTies To underTake The burden oT The school evaIuaTion TesT in OcTober of I945. The superior raTing ThaT The school re- ceived was The eTTecT oT his Tireless eTTorTs and briIIianT arrangemenT and coordinaTion oT all The deparTmenTs OT The school. As an educaTor. Monsignor Cox has an enviable rec- ord. He held The oTTice of PresidenT oT The Secondary School DeparTmenT oT The NaTionaI CaTholic EducaTionaI AssociaTion, Trom I948 To l95I. He was Chairman of The Board oT Governors oT The CaTholic League oT Philadel- phia Trom l948 To l95O. Besides being co-auThor oT The EIemenTary School Series oT American HisTory TexTbooks, enTiTled Voyages in HisTory, he has conTribuTed many arTicIes To proTessional educaTional books and magazines. He is also a valued member of The Advisory Board con- cerning The Mayor's scholarships. In I946, La Salle Col- lege, recognizing The valuable conTribuTion The RecTor made, over a period oT TiTTeen years, in The educaTional Tield, conTerred on him The disTinguished honorary degree oT DocTor oT Laws. Three years laTer in I949, ST. Joseph's College repeaTed This honor, emphasizing Thereby The graTiuTude and The respecT ThaT educaTional leaders in his area had oT his qualiTies and achievemenTs in school work. NOT The leasT oT our RecTor's accompIishmenTs is his repuTaTion as an oraTor, boTh in The pulpiT and on The plaTTorm oT public aTTairs. Well known as he was in aca- demic circles, The average person oT our viciniTy came To know Monsignor Cox Through The media of radio and Television. Many imporTanT eccIesiasTicaI aTTairs in The pasT years have been enhanced by The erudiTe com- menTs of our RecTor, which were a deIighT To The minds and The ears of The Tens oT Thousands of lisTeners. We, sTudenTs oT ST. Thomas More, have always considered ourselves TorTunaTe To have Monsignor Cox's voice as well as his mind and hearT. AcTuaIly, aTTer The exciTemenT of The occasion had died down, all oT us ThoughT how very worThy indeed The RecTor was oT The honor he had received. His unselTish labor in behaIT oT our school and The inTeresT he has shown in all of iTs varied acTiviTies mark him as a mosT energeTic and mosT capable leader. By his deTerminaTion To increase The honor and glory oT The good name oT our school, he has earned The aTTecTion and respecT. noT only oT The TacuITy and The counTless number OT sTudenTs who have passed Through iTs hallowed halls, buT also oT The Thous- ands oT people, clergy and IaiTy alike, who respecT and admire him boTh as a priesT and as an educaTor.

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'Y ' . f ki A E I is ,wise

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242 flag!! ffevmefzaf jd ., .ZZ . jfhfzszyfzafl WWW 5 M l-lappy Thoughf iT is ThaT all of us aT ST. Thomas More share, in a sense, in The dignify of Monsignor Cox's honor. Through him, every sTudenT who has ever aTTended our school is honored: every faculTy member, pasT and presenf, is similarly honored. For The Archbishop, in rec- ognizing The accomplishmenTs of Monsignor Cox, salufes, aT The same Time, his priesfly associaTes and The sTudenTs who have benefiTTed by his guidance and concern. Thus, Monsignor Cox Told us ThaT he Treasures his new dignify noT so much because iT came To him, buf because iT came To us. l-le spolce beaufifully Too of his affecfion and regard for The Reverend Faculfy, who always supporf his admin- isTraTive policies and give him The consolaTion and sup- porf Thal malces The yolce of his office sweeTer and iTs burden lighTer. We of The Class of l953 are very happy indeed To exTend, in The name of fellow sTudenTs of yesTerday and Today, our mosf hearffelf congrafulafions To a priesfly genTleman and scholar who has labored unfiringly in our behalf. lT is our sincere hope, Monsignor Cox, ThaT we shall prove ourselves worThy of your inTeresT and guid- ance: ThaT in fuTure years, you will see The harvesf of your labors in our behalf expressed in The way in which we live our Cafholic lives: ThaT we shall be a crediT To our homes, our CounTry, and our CaTholic l:aiTh, as you so earnesfly desire. We pray God To bless your worlc in educafion abundanfly and To give you many years To con- Tinue your successful efforTs in The educaTional field for Counfry and Faifh. For all your disfincfions and honors, Monsignor, we prefer To see you always as an exemplary priesf of God who leads Cafholic youfh To The poT of gold To be found aT The end of The rainbow of Cafholic edu- caTion - The salvaTion of Their immorfal souls. Joseph N. Vallely, '53