2012 Man of the Year
Thomas P. O’Malley ‘57
I was born into the Leo neighborhood
at 79th and Green Street. I
moved to St. Sabina at age 1. I attended
St. Sabina Grade School and then Leo HS.
I played Lights my junior year on a very good lights team. My senior year I played Heavies and was 2nd
team All Catholic League. I attended
Loras College. After graduation Br.
Coogan brought me back to Leo to teach and coach basketball. I have enjoyed a great deal of success in
coaching since this humble start. The
greatest has been the number of friendships with the many wonderful players and
coaches I have been able to work with and retain those friendships. I have been selected to the 16 inch Softball
Hall of Fame, Chicago Catholic League Hall of Fame, IHSA Coaches Hall of Fame,
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Hall of Fame, Leo HS Hall of Fame,
and Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. My own claim to fame is my Faith, Family
and Friends, my family sons Tom (Kate) and Mike (Lisa) (both Leo Grads), daughter
Carrie (Dan), my 13 grandkids, Courtney, Molly, Shea-Ryan, Tara, Brennan,
Annie, Megan, Matthew, Nolan, Aiden, Brendan and Daniel (all Hall of Famers)
and my best friend and loyal supporter and my love for 46 years, my wife Carol. Leo will always hold great memories for
me. This award I will cherish
forever. God has been good to me and my
family and I hope I will be able to continue to do my best to help people. Thanks again and God Bless.
2012 Doctor Thomas Driscoll Award
Eugene F. Earner ‘50
Gene Earner has been a Leo fan for as
long as he can remember. At 3 years old,
his parents took him to his first Leo football game at which his brother Ken
(Class of ’39) was a cheerleader. He has
been hooked on Leo ever since.
After graduating from St. Margaret of Scotland School in
1946, Gene followed in his brother’s footsteps on to Leo where he played
Bantams basketball as a sophomore. Gene
graduated from Leo in 1950 but his connection to the school was far from over.
After high school, Gene married his dear wife Donna in
1954. Together, they raised 12 children
all of whom attended Catholic grade school and high school. Six of their boys went to Leo. While his sons were at Leo, Gene’s
involvement with the school continued to grow.
He was a member of the Parents’ Club serving as Vice-President for one
year. For 19 years (1974-1993), he was
the “Voice of the Lions” as the field announcer for Leo football games. Likewise, he was a timekeeper for home
basketball games during the same years.
Five of his granddaughters were junior Leo cheerleaders as little girls.
Outside of Leo, Gene spent 25 years as a route
driver/salesman for the Canfield Beverage Co.
He played high caliber softball for the Robbins Drugs team who won the
19th Ward Championship 3 times and Ridge Park and Foster Park 8
times. His park district basketball team
lost only 1 game from 1964-1966.
Included on this team roster was Governor Vaughn, an ex-Harlem
Globetrotter. He ended his excellent
amateur golfing career with 2 holes-in-one.
Gene has always been very involved in the local
community. He has coached grammar school
basketball and spent 10 years as President of the Southwest Grammar School
Conference. He has shown his dedication
to his beloved St. Margaret of Scotland by organizing many successful St.
Patrick’s Day parties over 15 years, helping raise about half a million dollars
for the parish.
Gene has been a dedicated member of the Alumni Association
for many years. He entered the Leo Hall
of Fame in 1993 and was the Man of the Year in 1995. Gene has not let up on his involvement as he
is still organizing very well attended Annual Alumni Nights at Leo home
basketball games. He currently serves as
the Chairman of the Board. As he
receives the Doctor Driscoll Award in 2012, Gene’s love of Leo has never
wavered since he went to that first game as a toddler. He is a lion through and through. Well done Gene!
2012 Doctor Thomas Driscoll Award
Donald E. Hogan ‘45
Don Hogan grew up in St. Sabina
Parish. In February 1945, Don enlisted
in the US Navy. Upon graduating from Leo
in May 1945, Don left for the service and served on the USS Wisconsin. Don and his wife Rita (deceased) raised four
children; Jeanne, Colette, Patricia and Tom.
They have 15 grandchildren. Don
is completing his 60th year as an agent and manager for Bankers Life
and Casualty Insurance Co.
Don has worked and supported the Alumni Association for over
50 years. He has held various offices
throughout the years and in 1962 he was President of this prestigious
association. During his term of
President, he inaugurated the man of the year Award.
Don was his class chairman for the silver and golden jubilee
banquets. Don was a member of the group
that worked to get the golf outing moved to its present location and shares in
the successes that the outing has had.
Don and his friend Frank McDermott ’57 have, for over 25 years worked on
the table assignments for the Annual Banquet and as the banquet grows, their job becomes a little more interesting.
Don has truly lived the Leo Motto, “facta non verba.”
2012 Community Service Award
Gordon R. Skolaski ‘51
Gordon has lived the life of giving
of his time and talents. He is a life
member of the Knights of Columbus joining in 1952. He is a life member of the K
of C 4th degree. He was the
Grand Knight from 1965-67. He is the
past president of the 4th Degree.
He was General Chairman of the K of C-CYO. Chairman of the youth food drive in 1972 and
in 1992, he was the Knight equestrian order of Holy Sepulchre.
His passion
for helping others who were less fortunate started in 1984. He was involved in
the Casa Zuilema, in the Honduras. This
was a home for adults and children with AIDS.
It was a facility with 24 beds.
He was involved in their daily routines and in a 15 year period, over
1400 people have died from this terrible disease. He would care for people that were abandoned
by their families and took in people that literally were living in the garbage
dumps of the city. From 1987-2012, he
was involved in many projects and helping out in La Mica, where they
accomplished a lot of projects, such as, a grammar school, and electrical grid
system to supply electricity to 700 people, a bus stop and a church. Gordon has travelled all over the globe to
help his fellow human being. He has been
to 37 countries and has paid for this out of his own pocket. In his spare time, when he is not travelling,
he helps local agencies including those in the Chicago land area. Gordon TRULY fits our motto of “facta non
verba.”
2012 Hall of Fame
John P. Collins ‘79
John Collins was recruited to Leo
High School out of St. Thomas More Parish by Leo team sports Doctor
Driscoll. John Collins began boxing as a
freshman at Leo with his great pal Jimmy Galvin under the guidance of Coach Bob
Galloway. John also played linebacker
and was the captain of the football team coached by Leo Hall of Famer and
former Leo President Robert Foster ’58.
“Irish” John Collins capped off an excellent amateur boxing
career by winning the Chicago Golden Gloves Championship. John then began his professional boxing
career with an impressive 29 straight victories including a nationally
televised victory over cross-town rival Lenny LaPaglia that was voted Ring
Magazine Fight of the Year. Immensely
popular and known for having the hardest right hand in the middleweight
division, John captured the United States Boxing Association Middleweight
Championship and finished his professional boxing career with 30 knock-out
victories in a 34 win career.
John is currently a Local 134 union electrician and stays
active in boxing by training Leo boxers for Golden Gloves. John has served as Grand Marshall of the
Southside Irish Parade and is a Chicago land Sports Hall of Fame member.
John and his wife Mary are the proud parents of Meghan,
Patrick, Kara, Eileen and Ellen.
2012 Hall of Fame
Philip E. Collins ‘75 (Posthumously)
Phil graduated from St. Bernadette
Grammar School and followed two of his brothers (Brian, class of 1965 and
Kevin, class of 1969) to Leo High School.
Phil was a dedicated family man and is survived by his wife,
Kathleen, his son, Kevin a recent graduate of Purdue University and daughter
Courtney, a freshman at Western Michigan University.
Phil began his business career after graduating from Western
Illinois University in 1979 joining the sales team at Xerox Corporation. He went on to have sales success at companies
including Nortel, SunGard and Comdisco.
He achieved the Salesman of the Year award and Top Performer
several times.
Phil and Kathy were members of St. Linus Parish in Oak Lawn
where Phil coached boys basketball for six years
winning the coveted gold basketball with these teams. Phil’s love of the game began when he was
playing for the Leo Lions and Coach Tom O’Malley. He was proud to be a member of the 1973
championship team.
Leo is a place where Phil made many lifelong friends. Friends
he cherished and admired throughout his life.
Phil spoke often of his love and pride for Leo High
School. Leo High School helped mold Phil
into a loving, hardworking, dedicated husband, father, friend and businessman.
2012 Hall of Fame
Lawrence J. Lynch ‘75
Larry Lynch has been a member of the
Leo Alumni Board of Directors for the last eight years. He has served in the vital position of
Activities Chairman for the last five years.
He graduated from St. Rita Cascia Grammar School. At Leo, Larry was a member of the National
Honor Society and Letterman Club. He
played Junior Varsity and Varsity Football.
He was a three year Varsity Letterman and Captain of the track team.
Larry graduated from St. Xavier College and went on to earn a
law degree at John Marshall law School.
He retired from the US Secret Service after over 21 years of
service. He served on the Vice
Presidential Protective detail and received the Presidential Distinguished
Service Award for actions take on September 11, 2001. Larry is currently employed for Northern
Trust Bank as Senior Vice President Global Security Manager.
Larry is a member of the Father Perez Knights of Columbus and
has held the position of Grand Knight for two years. He currently serves as the council
treasurer. He was instrumental in
arranging for Father Perez hall to serve as the meeting place for the Alumni
Association.
He met his wife Karen at St. Xavier and they have two
children Kathryn and James.
2012 Hall of Fame
Kevin A. McCarthy ‘68
After graduating from Visitation
Grammar School in June of 1964, Kevin entered Leo High School in
September. His first homeroom and
Algebra teacher was Brother Acker, who was the first of many who made him
understand how lucky he was to be a Leo man.
He followed his brother Tim ’67 and was followed by his brother Jack ’70
to the Lion’s den. The four years at Leo
were a great learning experience and there were plenty of good times and
wonderful memories.
Kevin then went on to a B.S. in Education from Chicago State
in 1972 and a M.S. in Education from DePaul in 1976.
Kevin taught for 8 years at Austin Middle, which became
Michele Clark Middle, a Chicago Public School.
After leaving teaching he went into School Supplies and Equipment sales
for 16 years with 3 different companies.
In 1973 he married his wife Judy and they were blessed with a
daughter, Amy in 1977 and a son, Kevin in 1981.
This February they celebrated their 39th anniversary.
In 1996 Kevin was elected to the Illinois House of
Representatives. Remembering his Leo
heritage, his first bill was the education tax credit to assist families who
chose non public education for their children.
This $500.00 tax credit is still the highest of any state in the
USA. In 2010, Kevin was elected to his
eighth straight election, representing the 37th District in the
southwest suburbs of Chicago.
2012 Hall of Fame
Michael J. Ryan DDS ‘57
Mike Ryan graduated from St. Sabina
Grammar School and entered Leo High School in 1953. He graduated from Leo in 1957. At Leo he was a class officer and member of
the National Honor Society. At the end
of his senior year he was awarded the Msgr. Shewbridge medal in History. Upon graduation he was awarded a four year
scholarship to Loyola University. Mike
continued his education at Loyola Dental School and received his Doctor of Dental
Surgery in 1965.
In 1965, he began his practice in Chicago’s Ashburn area he
continued until 1995. He opened a second
practice in Tinley Park from 1991 to 2007.
He is a member of the ADA, Chicago Dental Society and Illinois Dental
Society. Dr. Ryan is also a Fellow I the
Academy of General Dentistry and a charter member in the Society of Geriatric
Dentistry. Mike was a volunteer in the
Cara Program which assists motivated individuals affected by homelessness and
poverty to transform their lives. Cara
was founded by Tom Owens ’54. He served
on the parish board of St. Cajetan. Mike
coached boy’s and girl’s basketball for several years at his present parish of
St. Alexander in Palos Heights. He and
Carol (his wife of 49 years) live in Orland Park. They were charter members of the South
Suburban Right to Life Organization. Mike
and Carol have eight children, all residing on the Southside of Chicago or
South suburbs. They have 28
grandchildren ranging in age from six months to 21 years of age. Mike believes that attending Leo provided him
a terrific opportunity and privilege to attain a superior education.
2012 Hall of Fame
Robert T. Standring ‘70
Bob graduated from St. Cajetan in
Beverly in 1966.
At Leo, Bob was a three-sport athlete, wrote for “the Oriole”
and was vice president of his senior class.
Those accomplishments earned him a four year academic/football
scholarship at the University of Illinois at Champaign. The old Big Ten football adage “three yards
and a cloud of dust” helps depict Bob’s era at U of I and served him well as he
ventured into the insurance business with the same diligent, methodical
approach. Following graduation, Bob
started Standring Financial Services, Inc. and has specialized in Employee
Benefits and Estate Planning for 37 years since 1974.
Bob’s wife of 34 years, Carole, is a Special Education
teacher. They have two children: Brooke
and Bob Jr. Brooke’s husband, Andrew
Ariens, works with Bob. They have two
children: Jack Henry and Chloe Marie.
She teaches Special Education fort the Chicago Public Schools.
Bob Jr. is single and a graduate from Loyola Medical
School. He is almost through his
residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit practicing as a Head and Neck
Surgeon (otolaryngologist).
“There is no question that I feel blessed and Leo High School
was and still is a big part of our lives!”