As we approach the one-year mark of when we first heard stories coming out of China about COVID -19, we want to share with the Memorial community how our alumni and friends are working on the front lines of this pandemic. If you are in health care, research, public health, manufacturing or distribution of vaccines or PPE, or any of the thousands of professions working on the pandemic we would love to hear your story. Drop an email to Maria Quinton at mariaquinton@evdio.org or call her at 812-303-0006, and we will share your stories in a future e-news. We know we have a Tiger in this fight somewhere in the world which means normal is just around the corner. 

David Mattingly, 1958 – Before joining the class of 1958, Dave attended St. Ben's then Christ the King. After Christ the King Dave went to seminary at St. Meinrad for two years before moving to Memorial. After his graduation from Memorial, Dave went onto Purdue University to get a degree in Pharmacy. For a short time after his graduation he worked in pharmacy, but then joined the Air Force where he became a pilot. He served in the Air Force for six years and flew in Vietnam and various other missions. From there he was asked to join a special operation that involved a sky hook plane that worked with green berets and the Navy Seals, their job was to put people in and take them out safely.

Next, Dave's career took him to become a pilot for Delta Airlines, where he remained for 31 years. During that time he started a hot air balloon company called Afternoon Delight and even would bring a balloon back to Evansville for Thunder on the Ohio! Also during his time at Delta he was asked to help with many research projects, the first was to assist with Operation Migration with whooping cranes teaching them migratory patterns ensuring their survival. By the 1940's the bird had almost gone extinct, but with the help of biologists they successfully bred them in captivity and released them. For 15 years now they have been teaching the young cranes migratory patterns by leading them with an ultra-light, one person air-craft. Dave did that for three years and was able to combine his passions of marine biology and flying.

From there he got involved with the New England Aquarium in Boston to help locate North Atlantic Wales. He helped organize aerial surveillance research, which documented mothers and newborn calves along the Georgia coast. They were able to locate their calving grounds to better research why they were endangered and how to best protect them.

After retiring from Delta, Dave and a good friend purchased Eddie's Attic in Atlanta, GA, and he still remains there planning events and concerts for post-COVID times! He also still remains involved with marine biology research, and he just procured an aircam airplane which is made for low-flying video/photo surveillance of nature. He hopes in spring he will be able to join the Georgia Aquarium in their research of Manta Rays along the Atlantic Coast.

If you are in the Atlanta area, check out Eddie's Attic for upcoming events.

The Memorial Tigers had a very exciting few weeks. Our boy's soccer team won another IHSAA Class 2A state championship, their fourth title in the past five seasons. The Tigers took on Fort Wayne Cantebury and defeated them 3-0.

As the Christmas season rapidly approaches and we begin our holiday shopping, help support Memorial while shopping with Amazon! Every time you shop at Amazon through AmazonSmile using the link below or using your app, Amazon will donate 0.5% of eligible purchases to Memorial High School with no extra cost to you. All you need to do is use the link below or your phone application to begin shopping.

To set up AmazonSmile on your phone through the Amazon app following these steps:

Please reach out to Maria Quinton at (812)303-0006 or mariaquinton@evdio.org with questions or concerns.

Simply donate to Memorial High School by drinking Coca-Cola beverages. Memorial is a participating school in the Coca-Cola Give Program. Coca-Cola Give allows you to donate to your selected school by scanning the code in the lid of your favorite beverages from the Coca-Cola Company.

All you have to do is:

Tickets for the 2021 Tradition Lottery are officially on sale, and with many of our fundraising events impact, we are hoping to sell all 3,500 of our tickets. You do not have to be in Evansville to support the 2021 Tradition Lottery, all tickets can be purchased through the mail or over the phone!

To purchase tickets:

During this time of uncertainty, tuition assistance and scholarships are crucial to our students. Help us pay forward the blessing of Catholic education, please consider donating to the Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO). For families who present a financial need, Reitz Memorial High School can assist with state vouchers, SGO awards and tuition assistance funds from the Catholic Education Foundation. In previous years, our families have received over $1 million from these sources for tuition assistance, making a Catholic education possible.

All scholarships provided by the SGO are funded through private donations. As a donor, not only will you be providing much-needed scholarships, but you will also qualify for a 50% Indiana State Tax Credit, and the balance is still available for a federal tax deduction. By giving a gift through the Institute for Quality Education and designating it to Reitz Memorial High School, you will be providing needs-based scholarships to eligible incoming and current RMHS students.

Join us in playing Memorial Bingo! Download the photo above, fill in your 'bingo board' and share on your social media accounts and tag your fellow Tigers.

1958 - Several young women stuff stockings to take over to the Little Sisters of the Poor for St. Nicholas Day.

Each month we will be remembering our late alumni and friends, we are aware have passed. If you know of an alumnus or friend of Memorial who has passed away during the month of October and November or before and is not remembered here please contact Maria Quinton at (812) 303-0006 or mariaquinton@evdio.org.

Have you (or an alumni in your family) recently experienced an exciting change in your life: completed a degree, new career, gotten married, award or recognition, welcomed a new child, retired, etc? We would love to share your great news with the Reitz Memorial community in the upcoming edition of Memorial Memories!

Memorial High School class of 1966 will celebrate their 55^th class reunion!!

Jim Unverzagt --- junverzagt48@gmail.com or Charleen Spear --- chars19095@aol.com

The Reunion Committee (composed of Dean & Karen Bosler, Jim and Mary Quirk, Mike Keating and myself) has unanimously decided to postpone the 50th Class Reunion due to the ongoing pandemic. The original date of October 10, 2020, was set in late 2019. At this time, we have not decided on a revised date. If current conditions improve, we will hopefully be able to reschedule for a weekend sometime in the spring of 2021.

The class of 1960 planning committee met recently and decided after a brief discussion to cancel our reunion for October 3. The uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 virus, its' impact on travel for out of town attendees, the social distancing requirements for meetings and dining, the awkwardness of communications while wearing a mask, and most importantly, the potential risk to our elderly alumni group were the reason we arrived at the unanimous decision.

We have now reserved the Evansville Country Club for a Class of 1960 reunion on Saturday, September 25, 2021.