St. Joseph SPREE honors founding members
OGDEN — At a time when St. Joseph Schools needed them the most, several individuals stepped up to help. Those men were honored with the Soaring Jayhawk Award on April 28 at the SPREE annual dinner and auction at HUB 801.
Forty years ago the Holy Cross sisters who had been teaching at the schools for free left Utah. As a result, the schools needed an infusion of funds to be able to hire and pay lay teachers. That first year the school kept its doors open due to three-year pledges of financial support from the school’s boosters.
Knowing something more needed to be done, members of the school board, diocese, faculty and many others met to address the crisis. Hearing of a Catholic school in Montana that held an annual community auction that raised substantial revenue, a group traveled to Loyola of Sacred Heart High School in Missoula to find out about it.
On their return, they organized their first fundraiser. In a contest to name the event, high school student Mike O’Brien came up with SPREE – Supportive People Retaining Educational Excellence. The inaugural event generated $18,000; in the past 40 years SPREE has generated more than $2 million for the schools.
Four people were instrumental in the initial success of SPREE: Paul Willard and Allan McDonald, who at the time were principal and board president, respectively, of St. Joseph Catholic High School; and Thomas Judge and Dr. Michael Janeway, who were principal and board president, respectively, of the grade school.
McDonald served a second term as president of the high school board a decade later.
McDonald and his family had moved to Ogden from Brigham City a few years earlier so his children could attend Catholic schools. With a degree in chemical engineering, McDonald went to work for Morton Thiokol as an engineer for the stage 1 Minutemen ballistic missiles. He later became the director of the space shuttle solid rocket motor project. In that role, in the summer of 1985 he led a team of engineers who approached NASA about a problem with the O-rings that would be used for the space shuttle. They requested a redesign but were told it would be too expensive.
On Jan. 27, 1986, the day before Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in mid-air, McDonald and other engineers argued that the cold could compromise the performance of the O-rings. Ultimately, they were overridden by their superiors. Later, at a meeting of the presidential commission that investigated the cause of the explosion, McDonald revealed the problem with the O-rings, which NASA had not told the commission. He was then called upon to testify before the commission, which brought retribution from NASA and his superiors at Morton Thiokol. His faith helped him through that difficult time, he said.
“Faith basically tells you to stand up and tell the truth,” he said. “No matter what the circumstances might be, you can make your way through that way.”
McDonald was demoted to being a scheduling supervisor, but after Congress passed a joint resolution calling for his reinstatement, he was put in charge of what he called a “super task force” to look into the failure of the O-rings. He was later assigned to lead the redesign of the solid rocket boosters.
McDonald retired from Morton Thiokol in 2001. In 2009 he wrote a book, “Truth, Lies, and O-Rings,” about his experiences. He has shared those experiences at speaking engagements across the country. He and his wife, Linda, are the parents of four children and have eight grandchildren, with another on the way.
Paul Willard moved with his family to Ogden when he was a small child. His parents wanted him to attend Catholic schools but were unable to afford the tuition. However, the Jesuit priests in the area provided the financial assistance to enable him to attend.
After graduation from St. Joseph Catholic High School, Willard attended and graduated from the University of San Francisco. He started his teaching career in 1964 in Provo at St. Francis School.
In 1969 he was asked to become the high school athletic coach at his alma mater. He also taught social studies, coached basketball and served as vice principal. He was principal from 1977 to 1980, then returned to the classroom for four years. In 1984 he made the move to Park City High School.
“I needed to go where there was a real retirement plan for the sake of my family,” he said. “Also, I was ready for a change.”
Willard retired from Park City High in 2006. He and his wife, Jill, moved back to Ogden the following year. The couple, who was married for 50 years prior to Jill’s death in 2013, met while they were students at SJCHS. They had five children, all of whom attended St. Joseph’s schools.
Willard has remained active in the alumni association and is very proud of SPREE’s accomplishments.
“Just the fact that the thing has stayed operational and functional and has continued to support the schools for 40 years is a good thing for me to see,” he said.
Judge, who passed away in 2006, and Janeway, who passed away two months ago, were recognized posthumously with the Soaring Jayhawk award at the April 28 event. Janeway’s wife, Connie, accepted the award on his behalf.
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