Keeping you up to date on all things Hudson Catholic, past and present

10th Annual

Black & Gold Golf Classic

Sponsored by Torcon, Inc.

to honor Anna Schreiber,

Bruce Bock '75, Robert Peake '86

The 10th Annual Black & Gold Golf Classic to benefit Hudson Catholic will, of course, feature the beautiful course at the Essex County Country Club in West Orange, along with the customary pre-round BBQ lunch, libations from beginning to end, and sumptuous buffet dinner. It is at that dinner, sponsored by American Express, that Hudson Catholic will honor three of the finest Hawk stalwarts in the annals of Hawk Pride.

For a spot to play golf, a ticket for Dinner & Awards, or a testimonial in our digital journal, go to hudsoncatholic.org/bggolf.

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Among Hawk alumni and friends who are thinking of making their first gift to Hudson Catholic, or ways to increase their total giving within the bounds of their discretionary budget, the best way to help The Home of The Hawks and not feel the pinch is to break it down to smaller gifts made on a recurring basis.

Start small, and at hudsoncatholic.org/1964, click the ‘recurring gift’ box and repeat your gift monthly, by debit or credit. Suggested amounts to try are as follows:

Classes 2015 to 2019, try $10 a month.

Classes 2010 to 2014, try $15 a month.

Classes 2000 to 2009, try $23, for the 2023-24 school year.

Classes 1990 to 1999, try $60 for our 60^th year of operation.

Classes 1980 to 1989, try $64 in honor of our founding year.

Classes 1968 to 1979, try $65.83 to arrive, in 12 months, at $790, at 790.

While the supporters we have are generous and loyal, they represent a relatively small percentage of the Hawk community. Therefore, we have so much more opportunity if first-time givers or lapsed donors were to join in this year and do so in a way that is easy on the personal budget but impactful on total giving to our school.

For many Hawk alumni, MONTHLY may be your way to impact the fortunes and future of your alma mater!

Be The Hawk of The Month, Every Month!

President's Message

I write this after meeting with our outstanding faculty on the first day of the new school year. In two days, our newest batch of Hawks will arrive at the Nest they will call home for the next four years. As we prepare for the 2023-2024 school year, I do so knowing that our alumni, friends and families remain committed to the Lasallian mission that continues to guide us in all we do. Each smile, each laugh, each moment experienced by our students only happens because of all YOU do for Hudson Catholic. My hope is that you will stop in one of these days to see the wonders that your continued support creates here at 790 Bergen Avenue. Remember, you are always welcome at Hudson Catholic.

September 28th

October 12th

O'Leary's Publik House -- 788 Garfield Ave, JC

Drinks. of course, will be on Terry

October 14th

Please note: The Class of '73 would like to invite members of the surrounding classes of 1971, 1972, 1974 and 1975, so inclined, to join in our celebration, as our school years spent with you meant a great deal to us. We would be happy to see you again to join in with the reminiscing and enjoyment.

October 15th

Memorial Mass for Brother Patrick King, FSC

St. Aedan's Church, 3pm

Light Refreshments in Hudson Catholic Caf following

RSVP Oct. 8th to Gary Ferrari for the reception gferrari@hudsoncatholic.org

November 11th

First-ever Florida Event

Hollander Hotel -- St. Petersburg -- 1230pm Poolside

All Graduation Years / Family Friendly /Food & Drinks Available

Contact 'Rocco' Filerino '80 at filerino@gmail.com or Darren Scarpa '80 at djs713@duck.com

November 17th

Induction Event

at Hudson Catholic

Honoring the Greatest Athletes in Hudson Catholic History

Nomination forms may be completed and submitted at

https://hudsoncatholic.org/woh

through October 1st

Reunion Reminders

40 years: 1983               30 years: 1993 

20 years: 2003              10 years: 2013

Contact Jill Cypher at jcypher@hudsoncatholic.org

to express interest in having and helping with

a reunion for your class

Maureen Denzler

OCTOBER 5, 1936 – AUGUST 18, 2023

Mrs. Maureen J. Denzler, mother of the late John P. Higgins ’77 and Eileen Higgins, former member of the Hudson Catholic Board of Consultors, passed away on August 18th, at age 86, in Point Pleasant Beach.

Maureen was a long-time Hudson Catholic benefactor, having established the John P. Higgins Scholarship Awards Fund nearly ten years ago, and she continued to fund the awards that help numerous young Hawks with tuition assistance, year in and year out.

Maureen was raised and lived in Union City, graduating from Emerson High School in 1955, and was a parishioner of St. Joseph’s Church in Union City. Maureen lived her later years in Secaucus with her late husband, Dave, after retiring in 1982 from her role in the Finance Department serving Hudson County.

The Higgins family states that Maureen would have appreciated a donation to the John P. Higgins Scholarship Fund, in her memory, with checks payable to Hudson Catholic High School, 790 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City NJ and a memo note to JPH Fund. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.leber-fh.com for the Higgins-Denzler family.

Happenings at Hudson

New Members of the Administrative Team

Erin Drennan enters her third year at Hudson, to date as a member of the English Faculty, but now moves into a pivotal role as Director of College Programs, stepping into the huge shoes of the now-retired Bill Venezia ’70, who initiated the popular and successful Dual Enrollment Program with St. Peter’s University and the Media Arts Certificate Programs with New Jersey City University.

Erin, who holds an undergraduate degree in English from Georgian Court University has been a huge asset to Hudson Catholic. As a strong supporter of the arts in education, she has taught Drama, Theater Arts, Film Studies, Literature, and History of Rock and Roll, moderated the Glee Club, Fall Drama, and Spring Musical, and is always willing to work one on one with each student in the school. In addition to her administrative duties, Erin will teach a part-time schedule this year: Intro to Drama, Theater, and History of Rock and Roll, and maintain her roles as Assistant Director/Moderator of the Theater and Glee clubs.

Bryant Truong ’19 assumes the role of Technology coordinator and adds a Faculty teaching role in Mathematics. While a high school and college student, Bryant worked part-time as a member of the Hawk Help Desk in support of the school’s myriad technology needs. As a result, he knows the infrastructure, platforms and applications well and now applies his recent degree in Quantitative Finance from Stevens Institute of Technology. Over the past few years, Bryant has also, from time to time, pitched in to help out with technical issues around the Advancement web pages and Raisers Edge database.

Awards at Graduation

Signum Fidei Award to

Bill Venezia ‘70

The Signum Fidei award signifies the exemplification of the LaSallian spirit of faith and zeal in the service of church and society. As such, it is awarded by the Head of School as and when it is seen fit to do so, not on a planned cycle. Most recently, it has been awarded at Commencement and at the Hall of Fame Gala.

President-Principal Terry Matthews bestowed the Signum Fidei Award upon a pillar of the Hudson Catholic Administration who has made enormous contributions and helped take the school to the next level academically -- Mr. William Venezia ’70.

Brother Henry Laffey Award 

presented to Mariano Padilla ‘23

 by First Laffey Recipient, Bill Cullen '72

The Brother Henry Laffey Award is presented at Graduation to “the Senior who, in academic achievement and extracurricular participation, best exemplifies the spirit of Hudson Catholic Regional High School."

William ‘Bill’ Cullen, as Hudson Catholic’s 1972 Outstanding Athlete (Track & Field record setter and champion), received the initial Laffey Award from Brother Martin Zewe, FSC. Bill had the honor to pass the torch to this year’s recipient, Mariano Padilla.

Meet The Prez

President-Principal Terry Matthews enjoys meeting with influential alumni with whom he can share the news of Hudson Catholic and solicit and elicit input about the school -- what it means to you, what insights you can add to what we are doing, and ways in which your help could benefit the mission of Hudson Catholic.

You have told us so many great stories about the role Hudson Catholic has played in the formation of the person you have become and the success you have achieved. That's why so many of us continually express our Hawk Pride!

If you receive a meeting invitation, or would like to, please specify a preferred date or dates, time, and venue. Terry is happy to visit with you if you are unable to come to the campus, although, we would love to roll out the red carpet on Mercer Street, for you to see some of the 500+ young men and women entrusted to our care, along with what we have done with the place.

Kindly contact Gary Ferrari at gferrari@hudsoncatholic.org.

Adding to The Family

Looks like we poked the bear! A variety of responses poured in with regard to our 'Family Affair' article.

This is like Double Mint Gum. Terry Schaefer ‘78 and Eric Schaefer ‘79 were the only brothers to play on two County Championship football teams, were both named all county, and are both members of the HC Football Wall of Fame. Diverging, Eric was the first Hawk player to receive first team all-state honors and held most kicking records for decades.

Ms. Joan Gaedt reports that Hudson had another 5-brother family: The Sandhu's, inlcuding Hudson's only quadruplets -- 2004's Ahmed, Hammid, Hassan, and Murtaza, plus older brother Mustafa '02.

We had it as two sets of three Hogans when, in actuality, there was one set each of three Hogans and four Hogans. The four Hogans are Michael ‘76, William ‘77, Richard ‘79 and Matthew ‘86.

We missed one family of four brothers altogether, omitting mention of the esteemable Burns brothers -- John ’79, Fred ’80, Bryan ’82, and Neil ’85. On a side note, Neil Burns was recently on vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina with four other Hawk brothers: brothers Lou Karras ’83 and John Karras ’85, Vince Frantino 85, and Kevin Chrobocinski’ 86 of the three Chrobocinski Brothers - Kevin, Chris ’82, and Matthew ’91.

Rich Buchiccio ’83 wrote to share that, in addition to two families having five brothers among Hawk alumni (Parzychs and DePasquales), Hudson was also graced with five cousins, they being the Buchiccios -- Perry '78, Anthony '79, the late Mike Scarpa '79, Jaime '80, and Rich ‘83.

We also learned that the Spiegel Family has sent four siblings to Hudson Catholic -- Christian '13, Austin '16, Kayla '24 and James '26. For those of you keeping score, that's two alums and two in school.

And since the last issue, readers have identified four more set of brothers and another set of three siblings who were not included in our initial reported tally. That brings us to 646 known sets of Hawk brothers and 44 sets of a brother-sister combos.

Alumni Spotlight

on Alumni Varsity Coaches

Perhaps one of the greatest honors and recognitions an alumnus or alumna can receive is to be entrusted with the leadership reins of a Varsity athletic team at their alma mater. Few have received such an honor. Here are ten such alums in a rather exclusive club. Apologies if we overlooked anyone; we are certain to hear about it before most of you have even cracked open this email, so we'll be sure to follow up in next edition's Korrections Korner.

Mike Ambrosio '70 became the first Hawk Hockey Coach in 1977 and thereby holds the distinction as the first alumnus to become a Head Coach at Hudson Catholic. One technicality: the first team was a 'club' level team, not yet sanctioned by the state high school governing authority as a varsity sport, their games being played as 'exhibitions' against the very same varsity teams they would begin competing against in the following year. With good reason: Mike says that first team was enthusiastic and just happy to be on the ice, but most of the kids played on figure skates! He coached for three seasons and then relinquished the reins in 1980 due to a job relocation to Louisiana.

Ken Such '80 become Head Hockey Coach at the tender age of 19 in 1983-84, taking the reins from Mr. Ed Garland, and delivering the first winning record for the program in that very same year, along with our first appearance in the State Playoffs. The winning continued for five straight seasons. Ken finished with a 77-30-9 record ad made it to the Handchen Cup (The American Division of the New Jersey Interscholastic Hockey League) playoffs three years in a row, winning back-to-back Cup Championships in his final two seasons -- '87-'88 and '88-'89. Ken was both fortunate and instrumental in coaching stars such as Bruno Bisiacchi '84 and Dave Barbosa '87 a to success in their athletic performances, which ultimately earned them with banners on the Wall of Honor, also rferred to as the Athletic Hall of Fame, on the wall of the Rocky Pope Gymnasium.

A member of the Hudson Catholic Pioneer Class, Bob Ryan ‘68 is the first Hawk alum to take the reigns of a Hawk varsity sports team, when he stepped in to coach the Basketball Team for four season, from 1990 through 1994, producing steady year over year win progression, from 5 to 8 to 11 to 14 and a State Playoff victory. Highlights, for Bob, were winning the Queen of Peace Christmas tournament in 1993, Mike Corso scoring his 1000th point in the 93-94 season, and a nice state tournament win, at home, against St. Joseph’s of Montvale. Prior to that experience, Bob had assisted Jerry Hurley for one season when Jerry replaced Hall of Fame coach Rocky Pope.

Damel Ling ’95 served two seasons as the Varsity Basketball Coach, from 2007-09, coaching 1,000 point scorer Jonathan Cortez '08.

Alberto Vasquez ’99 became Head Baseball Coach in 2010 and served 12 seasons, through 2021, amassing over 125 wins and notching the 2014 Non-Public B State Championship,-- the first alumnus coach to win a state title, and one of the six Hawk athletic state championships, to go along with one each in basketball and hockey and three in track & field (keep reading).

Lou Zampella '93 became Head Football Coach in 2012, and stayed for 12 years, posting a 65-46-1 record for a .580 winning percentage, most notably going 8-2 and 8-3 in the 2021 and 2022 campaigns against predominantly strong Catholic school competition, along with earning State Playoff berths both years.

Bob Ryan’s classmate, Gerald McCann ’68 returned to alma mater in 2014 and served as Head Track & Field Coach for Indoor and Outdoor, for three years, from 2014 through 2017. In that short span, Gerry added a string of track championships to the banners on the Gym walls. In particular, Hudson won the 2016 and 2018 Hudson County Indoor Titles, the 2016 Indoor State Title, the 2015 Indoor and Outdoor State titles, and a first-ever Penn Relay Championship, in the Boys’ 4x400 meter relay event, along the way coaching numerous athletes to individual titles and records.

The late Louis Ken-Kwoffie '88 was installed on the Wall of Honor in 2017 for his prowess as a Hawk soccer star. He returned to alma mater in 2019 and served as Head Soccer Coach for three seasons until his untimely passing in 2022.





Katria Stewart ‘15 was the first Hawk female athlete to secure a Division I athletic scholarship, to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte for Volleyball, which earned her a place on the Wall of Honor. Katria stepped in as Varsity Volleyball Coach following the departure of long time Coach Fernando Colon to the university level in 2021.

And just this past spring, Jillian Ward ’18 stepped into a Varsity Head Coach role and led the Hawks through their 2023 season. Jillian is believed to be the youngest Varsity Head Coach in the State of New Jersey. Below, Jillian, back row, right, at the helm of the Hawk Softball Team this past spring.

Focus on '85

Tim Lord recalls that John McLellan was Class President; the Yearbook was dedicated to Brother Robert Dunn, Mr. John Cruitt, Mr. David Kahle, Brother Larry Dempsey, Mr. Paul Lenczuk, Mr. James O’Donnell, Mr, Don Schlacter, and Brother Tim Ahern; that John Furch, Pat Rey, and John Curry were the most prominent Hawk athletes; and that Baseball and Soccer were the best athletic teams.

Looks Like Sunny Skies Ahead. Another of Hoboken’s finest citizens, Iggy Camporeale ’85 is now retired after enjoying a varied and interesting career of 27 years of Federal government service. Iggy worked as a Meteorologist at the National Weather Service (he’s the guy who would go out in Central Park to measure the snowfall!) from 1990 to 1996. Switching gears, he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1999 and served 21 years in the capacity of Professional Support in Human Resources in the NY office. Iggy is active in the Parish of Our Lady of Grace Church in Hoboken (seen in the 1954 film classic, On The Waterfront), and is a 25-year member of the Society of La Madonna Dei Martiri. You can catch him every September helping to run the Society’s ‘Hoboken Italian Festival Feast’. Iggy is pictured at the club of the Society Madonna Dei Martiri in Hoboken

We are looking to 'Stay Connected' with '85ers Christopher Frank, Edward Gray, John Karras, Michael Long, Hisham Mohsen, Kevin Moore, Robert Napoleon, Ryan O’Flaherty, Sung Park, Michael Pizanie, Steven Polak, Thomas Roach, John Roefaro, and Khalid Sawaged. Send them to hudsoncatholic.org/stay-connected or send their email addresses to advancement@hudsoncatholic.org

Alumni Passings

Similar to maintaining information in our database for individual alumnus and alumna contacts, profession, and donation history, we also maintain, in the event of a passing, the date of passing, in our case, of 481 alumni. We do so for multiple purposes: to acknowledge a passing around the time of occurrence, express condolences to family members, remembering the deceased in our annual Alumni Mass of Remembrance in November, to cease what would otherwise be embarrassing or insensitive communications, and to help a reuniting class properly nd accurately observe remembrances and prayerful intentions for their departed friends.

This is why we ask you to share obituary notices with the school when you become aware of them, at advancement@hudsoncatholic.org. At this time, we are unaware of the dates of passing for just five alumni, and ask you, should you know this information, to share it with us at the above email address. We seek a date of passing for the following deceased alumni:

Lawrence Price ’71 / Martin Sarnowski ’71 / William Los ’72 / Thomas Chapman ’76 / Michael Haley ’78

Korrections Korner

The American Military University is not located in "xxx,xx" but in Charles Town, WV. As we told Mike Albanese '86, we put it in as a placeholder and missed it in proofing.

Turn Your Brothers and Sisters In!

(We Need Their Email Addresses)

We lose touch with some of our graduates who move around, go off to college, start careers, get married, etc. Help us find them again and make it harder for us to lose touch. Many on this list have siblings who are Hawk alumni, so turn them in at advancement@hudsoncatholic.org or send them to hudsoncatholic.org/stay-connected to update their contact info.

“As I look back at my life, I realize that

every time I thought I was being rejected from something good,

I was actually being re-directed to something better.”

-- Anonymous

Requiescant in Pace

Vita Mutatur Non Tollitur

(Life is changed, not ended)

Mrs. Maureen Denzler, mother of the late John Higgins '77 and Eileen Higgins, ex-Board of Consultors and HCRHS benefactor

Danielle Horan, wife of James Horan '06

Rosanna Jannuzzi, wife of Joseph Jannuzzi, ‘68

______________________________________________

They will be remembered in our annual

Alumni Mass of Remembrance

on November 5th

Michael Skea '74

Your Trusted Real Estate Advisor at the Jersey Shore 

Ajay Hathiwala '09