50 Years Ago…
On June 12, 1973, I ended my 8 years at Saint Mary’s when I received this diploma in a graduation ceremony in the upper church on High Street. I was the last of 5 siblings to graduate from St. Mary’s; the school would close permanently in June 1975 before my younger brother was old enough to attend (despite having been enrolled at his christening in 1969).
In December 1972, Monsignor Charles Dewey, pastor, announced that the Sisters of St. Joseph would no longer be staffing the school effective June 1975. At the time there were 9 nuns teaching the 16 classes of approximately 525 students. The possibility of continuing the school with lay faculty was discussed, but in the end the decision was made to close. The school served as home to several other educational institutions including the British School of Boston and the Rashi School, before being torn down in 2010.
The cornerstone for the original building (we called it “the old school”) was laid on June 16, 1935, with 500 people attending the ceremony. The “new school” opened in the fall of 1958 and increased the school’s capacity to 650 students. My 1st, 2nd and 4th grade classrooms were all in the “old school,” where the desks still had holes for ink bottles and were bolted to the floor. There were about 85 graduates in the Class of ’73, which means there were over 40 students in each classroom with just one teacher. Some of those classmates are still good friends, and I hope to see many of them as we gather for a reunion in August.
Dedham Tales 
June 12, 2023 at 11:55 am
The class sizes always amaze me. I tell people in Dedham and they are somewhat shocked, growing up, there were 9 elementary schools in the town including St. Mary’s which had some students from West Roxbury, but not many.
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June 13, 2023 at 8:49 am
My dad was taken out of the Ames School to be sent to I believe 5th grade at the brand new St Mary’s and then was in the first class to graduate from there. I was in the very last class to graduate in 1975. The bishop who said our baccalaureate Mass acknowledged his presence and the full circle we made. I may or may not have appropriated a couple of bricks from the demolition site and one of them may or may not be on his headstone as I speak.
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June 13, 2023 at 8:51 am
Great story! My recollection is that Reynold Spadoni was the last graduate (alphabetical order). Do you know if that’s correct?
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June 15, 2023 at 11:05 am
So I’m told by Margaret Barbarita that Decon Rey says that while Ray was the last ‘boy’ to walk, that Eileen Walsh was the last person!
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June 15, 2023 at 11:07 am
Thanks, you know I love to have all the facts
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June 15, 2023 at 4:14 pm
I did not know that I was actually the very last person to graduate from St Mary’s. Whenever St Mary’s school comes up in conversation, oddly it happens somewhat often, I comment I was in the last graduating class (and last May Queen as you well know Nancy Lally!!) but not that I was THE last person. I’m feeling quite VIPish! Thanks Nancy for reaching out!!
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June 15, 2023 at 8:12 pm
You may be a Dedham trivia question and answer someday. That’s noteworthy.
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March 23, 2025 at 3:55 pm
I remember handwriting in my 1st grade class of 50 students at St. Mary’s (1952/53). I believe we printed that year until Christmas. Starting at Christmas, if my memory is correct, we wrote our weekly spelling words in pencil on yellow “practice” paper. For our spelling tests on Fridays, we wrote on white composition paper — using a fountain pen and blotter, as we sat back straight, left foot slightly ahead of our right foot, and blotter slightly tipped to the right over the upper left-hand side of the paper. My teacher’s name that year was Sister Anna Elizabeth, who seemed to be (and was) quite old. Amazingly, now, I wonder how she ever managed 50 children, with no aides, and taught those 50 children to, among other tasks, read and write rather proficiently! Well, I was certainly saddened when my parents decided to move in 1957 — at the end of 5th grade — to the North Shore, due to my dad’s new job within White Fuel. I have so many memorable, happy memories of St. Mary’s that include the nuns, with their various personalities, and all of my fellow classmates at the school.
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