Six Bishop Heelan Schools faculty, staff members retire
Posted: Saturday, May 31, 2008
SIOUX CITY -- Six faculty and staff members of Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools are retiring this year.
Each of the six has served Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools for more than 15 years. Together they have served Bishop Heelan schools for 163 years. The six retirees are:
-- Dee Blatchford, honors science teacher at Bishop Heelan High School, 38 years;
-- Carol Happe, principal at Mater Dei Schools, 36 years;
-- Charlotte Short, maintenance staff at Bishop Heelan High School, 25 years;
-- Mary Lou O'Gorman, first-grade teacher at Sacred Heart, 24 years;
-- Donna Skuodas, Sacred Heart Kitchen, 24 years;
-- Mary Uhl, K-8 guidance counselor, 16 years.
A special reception was held May 20 at Sacred Heart School for O'Gorman, Skuodas, Uhl and Sister Mary Lee Cox who will be leaving Sacred Heart after four years of service.
A special reception honoring Happe was held after each Mass May 25 at Immaculate Conception Church.
A reception in honor of Blatchford and Short was held May 21 in the Heelan Media Center.
The Rev. Patrick Walsh, president of Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools, thanked the retiring faculty and staff for their many years of dedicated service.
{M3Blatchford is a graduate of Climbing Hill (Iowa) High School, has a bachelor of arts degree in education from Wayne (Neb.) State College. Before coming to Bishop Heelan High, she taught at Chino (Calif.) Middle School, Westbrook Junior High in Omaha and Central High School in Sioux City.
Happe attended Mater Dei School, formerly Immaculate Conception Grade School, Bishop Heelan High School and Briar Cliff University.
"BHCS has been 'home' and 'family' to me for most of my life," Happe said. "As a student at I.C., Heelan and Briar Cliff and then teaching at Mater Dei, the foundation of my life has been my Catholic education. The excellence of our academic education is strengthened by the sense of community, service, values and spiritual guidance that I was instilled with. I only hope I've been able to pass this on to others as a part of our schools," said Happe.
Short was born and raised in Winnebago, Neb. She moved to Sioux City in 1967 and started working for Bishop Heelan in 1982.
"I enjoyed my time at Heelan, especially the interaction with students, faculty and staff," said Short. Prior to working for Heelan, she worked for a local maintenance company.
O'Gorman is a graduate of Bishop Heelan High School and received her bachelor's degree in education from Wayne State College. O'Gorman received the Bishop Lawrence D. Soens Excellence in Education Award from the Sioux City Diocese in 2003. She and her husband, Terry, have four children and five grandchildren.
Skuodas was a cook at Immaculate Conception for many years before leaving the school system and then returning a couple years later to cook at Bishop Heelan High School and most recently at Sacred Heart School for six years. She has six children who were graduated from Bishop Heelan and currently has two grandchildren in the Bishop Heelan Catholic School system.
Uhl{M3 was graduated from Bishop Heelan High School in 1968. She has a bachelor's degree in sociology with a minor in elementary education from Briar Cliff University and a master's degree from Wayne State College.
Uhl was a substitute teacher for BHCS from 1975 to 1990. From 1990 until 1993, she taught middle school literature at Holy Family School. After a two-year absence, she returned to teach middle school English at Mater Dei. In 1997, Uhl became a K-8 guidance counselor. Uhl and her husband, Gary, have five children, all Bishop Heelan graduates.
Each of the six has served Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools for more than 15 years. Together they have served Bishop Heelan schools for 163 years. The six retirees are:
-- Dee Blatchford, honors science teacher at Bishop Heelan High School, 38 years;
-- Carol Happe, principal at Mater Dei Schools, 36 years;
-- Charlotte Short, maintenance staff at Bishop Heelan High School, 25 years;
-- Mary Lou O'Gorman, first-grade teacher at Sacred Heart, 24 years;
-- Donna Skuodas, Sacred Heart Kitchen, 24 years;
-- Mary Uhl, K-8 guidance counselor, 16 years.
A special reception was held May 20 at Sacred Heart School for O'Gorman, Skuodas, Uhl and Sister Mary Lee Cox who will be leaving Sacred Heart after four years of service.
A special reception honoring Happe was held after each Mass May 25 at Immaculate Conception Church.
A reception in honor of Blatchford and Short was held May 21 in the Heelan Media Center.
The Rev. Patrick Walsh, president of Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools, thanked the retiring faculty and staff for their many years of dedicated service.
{M3Blatchford is a graduate of Climbing Hill (Iowa) High School, has a bachelor of arts degree in education from Wayne (Neb.) State College. Before coming to Bishop Heelan High, she taught at Chino (Calif.) Middle School, Westbrook Junior High in Omaha and Central High School in Sioux City.
Happe attended Mater Dei School, formerly Immaculate Conception Grade School, Bishop Heelan High School and Briar Cliff University.
"BHCS has been 'home' and 'family' to me for most of my life," Happe said. "As a student at I.C., Heelan and Briar Cliff and then teaching at Mater Dei, the foundation of my life has been my Catholic education. The excellence of our academic education is strengthened by the sense of community, service, values and spiritual guidance that I was instilled with. I only hope I've been able to pass this on to others as a part of our schools," said Happe.
Short was born and raised in Winnebago, Neb. She moved to Sioux City in 1967 and started working for Bishop Heelan in 1982.
"I enjoyed my time at Heelan, especially the interaction with students, faculty and staff," said Short. Prior to working for Heelan, she worked for a local maintenance company.
O'Gorman is a graduate of Bishop Heelan High School and received her bachelor's degree in education from Wayne State College. O'Gorman received the Bishop Lawrence D. Soens Excellence in Education Award from the Sioux City Diocese in 2003. She and her husband, Terry, have four children and five grandchildren.
Skuodas was a cook at Immaculate Conception for many years before leaving the school system and then returning a couple years later to cook at Bishop Heelan High School and most recently at Sacred Heart School for six years. She has six children who were graduated from Bishop Heelan and currently has two grandchildren in the Bishop Heelan Catholic School system.
Uhl{M3 was graduated from Bishop Heelan High School in 1968. She has a bachelor's degree in sociology with a minor in elementary education from Briar Cliff University and a master's degree from Wayne State College.
Uhl was a substitute teacher for BHCS from 1975 to 1990. From 1990 until 1993, she taught middle school literature at Holy Family School. After a two-year absence, she returned to teach middle school English at Mater Dei. In 1997, Uhl became a K-8 guidance counselor. Uhl and her husband, Gary, have five children, all Bishop Heelan graduates.
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