It’s been a half century since the last senior class graduated from St. Anthony of Padua High School. The school, the first Catholic school in the city, enrolled its first students in 1880, while the building on Northeast Second Street was still being completed, and its first class graduated in 1883. It became an all-girls school in 1900.
After its 1971 closing, the building was used by St. Anthony of Padua for parish services until 1983, when it was remodeled into Catholic Eldercare’s Albert J. Hofstede Care Center.
Around the time of the class of 1971’s 50th anniversary reunion, Catholic Eldercare Foundation’s Executive Director Thomas Glass approached class members about funding a marker commemorating the school’s history. A plaque was created and inscribed with a brief history of the school and the parish. It was placed near the grotto of the St. Anthony of Padua Chapel, next to the sandstone cornerstone of the original school building.
On Feb. 17, eight of the 62 members of the 1971 class gathered to see it.
The inscription on the plaque reads, “St. Anthony of Padua Parish School was born in Minnesota territorial days. Its faculty, students, and alumnae have been aware of its unique history as the first Catholic school in the city of Minneapolis and its pioneer struggles to survive.
“Many graduates have become successful, prominent leaders in professional, church, and civic life and have modeled the Christian message in their personal lives, both near and far. As the motto of St. Anthony High School proudly states, ‘We are able women through virtue and knowledge.’”
Below the text is the school’s shield, inscribed in Latin, “Possumus,” or “We Can.”
Below: St. Anthony of Padua’s last high school graduates gathered to view the memorial for the school in Catholic Eldercare’s garden, next to the old school’s cornerstone. Members of the Class of 1971, back, left to right: Mary Hess Comford, Colleen O’Neil Davy, Patty Ladwig Griffin, Stephanie Posey Larson, LaRae Moran Painter. Front, left to right: Debbie Davis Smith, Pat Buch McGee, Louise Schneider Engel. (Photos by Mark Peterson)
