Leo Alumni Honor Distinguished Alums at Annual Banquet Friday Night

Leo High School Alumni gather Friday to honor their own with a common thread to each award recipient: Facta non Verba, the school motto for “deeds not words” that built bonds and friendships still intact today.

“Without the friends I met at Leo, I am not sure how my life would have turned out,” said John Gardner, 2024 Leo Man of the Year and 1975 graduate.

Twenty years after graduating from Leo High School, Gardner brought his considerable talents back as an active member of the Leo Alumni Association helping any way he could and only five years later he spearheaded his class’ Silver Anniversary as Class Captain.

“John’s tireless work to promote our association, along with our school, is matched by few, if any,” said Leo alumni president Dan Stecich, who nominated Gardner and knows the commitment necessary for success year in and year out.

A proud member of the Leo High School Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Doc Driscoll Award, Gardner’s level of commitment to the “behind the scenes” duties and thankless tasks bring him to center stage as Man of the Year.

In addition to his work for the 25th anniversary, Gardner has served as President and Vice President of the Leo Alumni Association; worked on the annual golf outing; acted for year as the Co-Chair of Leo’s Annual Alumni Banquet; maintained and updated Leo’s alumni database over the decades.

Along that journey, Gardner has helped raise thousands of dollars, which go directly to the operating budget of Leo. Gardner is credited with being “a driving force in getting younger alumni involved” with the school and the alumni association.

Saint Walter graduate Robert Cheval, Sr., is this year’s 2024 Doc Driscoll Award recipient, a reflection of his quiet dedication supporting what matter most.

Included in Cheval’s jobs behind the scenes for more than two decades is his tenure as the long-time keeper of the financial books for alumni.

Brian Earner, class of 1993, nominated Cheval, class of 1974, because of the work “has gone above and beyond” that of the average alumni member.

“Bob’s job as treasurer requires many hours of behind the scenes working, going to the bank, keeping ledgers, and making sure we are in proper financial shape as an organization,” said Earner. “This is an essential job that we as an association could not exist without.

“It is an extremely important – but a rarely recognized - duty of the Leo’s alumni initiatives that Bob has served with distinction and accuracy for many years.

Cheval grew up in the historic Blue Island neighborhood and was a four-year football letterman. It was away from the sporting crowd that Cheval defined his roles for Leo and adulthood. Cheval served on Leo’s Student Council four years running, and he was voted in as President his senior year.

“I always thought that my time at Leo prepared me for life,” said Cheval. “I took to heart our motto, Facta Non Verba.”

Thomas “Tommy” Russell is the 2024 “Community Service Award Winner” for a lifetime of noble service and regard for others, especially his fellow veterans. Russell entered the US Marine Corp a year after leaving Leo High School in 1978. The Canaryville native calls it home again and anchors the local Veterans Association just a short walk from his boyhood home.

Not even the challenges of fighting off cancer the last several years hindered his mission to honor those veterans in need.

As president of the Veterans Riders Association in Canaryville, Russell organizes coat drives every Thanksgiving season at the Village in Bridgeport on Wallace. He also brings meals to Veterans. A motorcycle enthusiast, he can be seen leading the packs of riders Sunday during the Toys for Tots Christmas drives.

Russell provides Honor Rides for deceased veterans as part of the traditional funeral processions.

A retired carpenter, Russell has spent recent months building homes in Tennessee at Kentucky Lake’s Dark Horse Lodge, a non-profit organization retreat for combat veterans from all branches of service to come to relax, fish, enjoy area activities and communicate with others who have “walked in their boots.” All at no cost.

When a list of “MVPs” who have contributed to Leo High School’s transformative success in recent years is compiled, Jim Earner, Vice President for Business Operations, will be near the top.

And the newly minted Hall of Famer didn’t even go to Leo. The Brother Rice graduate is a product of a truly distinguished Leo family.

Jim’s dad is Gene Earner ‘50, known to many as “Mr. Leo” as a Hall of Famer, Man of the Year and recipient of both the Doc Driscoll and Community Service awards.

Six of Jim’s brothers are Leo grads, including Hall of Famers Dan ‘82 and Brian ‘93.

Jim was a competitive wrestler at Rice and remains involved with the sport as an official, having worked the 2024 IHSA state finals at the University of Illinois. He also helps oversee the Leo wrestling program.

I’d be lost without him,” Leo President Dan McGrath said of a 12-year partnership. “In my newspaper days, I never met a budget I couldn’t shatter. But Jim has a way of making sure we live within our means, while at the same time providing us with the resources we need to operate a first-rate school. His contributions are immeasurable.”

Dave Mutter, Leo class of 1970, enters the Leo Hall of Fame with a very Beverly distinction: Mutter is a long-time volunteer to the Southside Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade as a parade marshal.

The 1970 graduate is recognized on the strength of his playing days and two coaching/teaching tenures at Leo when the school needed him most.

Leo relationships matter most to Mutter, who lists among his Leo highlights the connections he shared with football coaches Bob Hanlon, Bob Foster and basketball coaches Tom O’Malley and Jack Fitzgerald, “as well as dozens of other staff and players.”

The Saint Leo Grammar School graduate was captain his freshman year and again as a senior year for the Lions. The lineman went on to become a three-year starter at University of Hawaii, where he earned a Bachelors degree.

Mutter returned to coach at Leo in 1975 under Foster followed by four seasons as head coach, until the 1979 season. He gave four seasons to Mount Carmel, highlighted by the 1980 5A state title team.

He returned to Leo again “as a volunteer to Coach Foster,” while launching a successful 30-year career in Allstate’s Insurance Sales Corporation, winning local, regional and national sales awards.

Never one to forget his school, for 10 years he provided sponsoring for golf outings benefiting University of Hawaii Football team.

Others inducted into the Hall of Fame include:

John “Jack” Hannigan ’63 – Known as “The Quiet Man” to his classmates, Jack is anything but quiet when it comes to publicizing Leo’s sports teams – moments after a game, alums can expect a score and highlights to hit their devices “quicker than an SOS.”

“I believe communication is a vital need, so I get the word out to the alumni … It has been a constant effort to support our school through communication,” Hannigan said. After 40-plus years as procurement specialist, Jack and wife Judy, a special education teacher, retired to Lockport, where their three kids and three grandkids are close by.

Robert “Bob” Marks ’63 – The oldest of 11 children, Marks chose to work and help pay the family bills as a teenager, which ruled out playing sports at Leo. But his impact on the school was profound nonetheless as his eight younger brothers followed him to Leo and became Hall of Famers. He follows his brothers into the Hall of Fame posthumously.

“Leo High School was a foundational moment in Bob’s life,” the Marks family said in nominating Bob for the Hall. “It not only provided him an excellent education, it instilled the values of hard work, integrity and giving back.” Bob gave back plenty as a volunteer with several social service organizations in the Detroit area while working as CFO for McCann-Erickson Detroit.

Terrance L. Bates ’86 – Bates managed his time contributing to the Leo Oriole newspaper, the Lion yearbook and student government. He still finds time to be an Alumni Association stalwart while working as a counselor for School District 130, coaching youth basketball and raising two daughters. “Whatever Leo needs, I’m there if I can be,” he said. “I live our motto every day.”

The 68th Annual Leo Alumni Association Banquet is Friday, April 26 at the Chateau Del Mar, 8301 W. 95th Street in Hickory Hills. Cocktails begin at 6:30p.m.; Dinner will be served at 7:30 p.m. with a brief program. Ticket prices are $80 and can be obtained from the Leo alumni site: https://leoalumni.org/