1930s

36 Still Active

I haven’t heard anything from anyone except Joe Newman, who lives in Florida and is 100 years old and still active. I think we have about five living classmates. Since I don’t hear from them, I am wondering whether I should continue this column. The only news I have to offer is that my youngest grandchild will enter ND this fall. He will join his brother, Kevin McGinn, a senior, and his sister, Ana, a junior. As for me, I still get around, and I’m hoping to make Kevin’s graduation next May. Until then, Go Irish. Please note my new email address. — John Norton; jwn176@gmail.com

37 A Notre Dame Man

Al Schwartz passed away on April 9. He died peacefully in the home where he was born 97 years earlier in Salina KS. He was a lifelong ND fan. He earned a varsity letter for managing the football team and was up to watching ND women playing in the NCAA basketball tournament this year. A grand Irish wake was held at his home, and it was attended by many alumni, including his children, Jamie, John, AJ, Norb and Ethel, and his grandson, Lael Tyler. Also attending were alums Mike Fallon of Albuquerque, Dan Hebert of Salina, Terry Gorrell of Denver and Kathy Harriett, of St. Charles IL. Mr. Schwartz was a giving person and invested in his community through service on boards and the Knights of Columbus, and volunteer work with Meals on Wheels and Hospice of Salina, among other endeavors. Learning about Mr. Schwartz’s life made me think about how even though much has changed at Notre Dame since 1937, one thing that’s stayed constant is the way in which Notre Dame instills a commitment to community, both the ND community and one’s local community. — Kathleen Coverick ’08; 911 Hagan Ave., New Orleans LA 70119; 708-305-5536; kathleen.coverick@gmail.com

38 Rosie’s

Every so often, when I have read all there is to read about our football team or current events on the Internet, I browse the online ND archives. A good soul at ND posts historical anecdotes and stories every few weeks, ranging from Father Sorin’s rescue after being lost at sea to the early days of Bookstore Basketball. I credit Wendy Clauson Schlereth and her staff in the University Archivist’s office for having put this information together. One of the entries this year from the time of the Class of 1938 recalls the origins of the South Bend institution I’ve always known as “Rosie’s Sunny Italy.” Originally called the North Niles Avenue Café, the restaurant opened in 1926 and, according to lore, was discovered by two ND students in the early 1930s, brothers or friends of yours, perhaps. They became friends with the owners, Tony and Rosie Vumbaca. The students bestowed the nickname “Rosie’s” on the restaurant, and before long the café was a favorite destination of ND students and their dates on Friday and Saturday nights. Jimmy and Josie Bamber bought the restaurant in 1940 and renamed it Sunny Italy Café. The family still runs the restaurant in its original Niles Avenue location today. Were you among the many enjoying spaghetti and beers back when it was simply “Rosie’s”? Have you been back recently? I am sorry to report that I learned from the alumni office that two members of the class passed away earlier this year. Philip Bayer died on March 19, and Charles M. Brown passed away on March 30. Please keep their families in your prayers. — Meg Julian ’03, ’06JD; 171 E. 89th St., No. 5A, New York NY 10128; 646-246-5480; megjulian@gmail.com

39 The Old Order Changes

In recent years I have considered myself lucky if I received messages between issues of Notre Dame Magazine from two classmates. This time there were none. Instead, however, there were messages from two widows of classmates. Adelaide Meskill, whose husband, Dave Meskill, wrote this column for 40 years, sent an email to say that my most recent column had caught her eye because of its focus on the Boston Marathon. She and Dave had grown up in Boston and although they didn’t know each other yet, their families attended regularly as spectators. Greg Rice, Notre Dame’s world-record-breaking runner, was a friend of Dave’s and he used to stay with Dave’s parents when he ran in Boston. This wasn’t the first time Adelaide had sent a message to me. My first column in 2004 included a report from Adelaide that she had just returned to Maine from a memorial Mass for Dave in Wilmette IL, where they had lived for 45 years. The other message from a classmate’s widow was a handwritten letter from Helen Hiegel, whose husband, Joe Hiegel, had been the vice president of Notre Dame’s chapter of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Like Adelaide, Helen had communicated with me before. In my summer 2005 column I had reported Helen’s message that Joe had died of a heart attack after 35 happy years of marriage. They had lived for many years in Salem OH, but she had moved on to Ft. Myers FL, where she is well taken care of by three daughters and two sons. In 2005 she had sent me a book she had written, Golf Is Not the Only Thing I Do! Now, like most of us in our 90s, she no longer plays golf or drives a car and she lives in a retirement home, but she says she still plays a good bridge game and she has written another book to be published soon. Its title: I Am Ahead of the Game, The Game of Life. For those of you who missed the story, our classmate, Father Ted Hesburgh was honored by a celebration in the US Capitol for his 96th birthday. The affair was hosted by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Speaker John Boehner, but Rep. Boehner was unable to attend. Both members were there from Indiana’s Senate delegation, Dan Coats and Joe Donnelly ’77, ’81JD. Also present were Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, ND President Rev. John Jenkins, ’76, ’78MA8, Ambassador *Timothy Roemer ’81MA, ’85PhD and Vice President Joe Biden. The May celebration was reported by John Nagy ’00M.A. in an email to alumni. He summed it up as “a genuinely bipartisan affair that brought politicians and staffers from both sides of the Capitol.” — Bill Donnelly; 6152 Verde Trail N, Apt. D201, Boca Raton FL 33433-2412; 561-852-9474; donnlywa@bellsouth.net