Class of 1950 Graduate Recalls Early Days at La Salette School

Editor's note: This story is part of a weeklong series about the impact of the Archdiocese of Detroit's decision to close of Our Lady of La Salette Catholic School and Academy in Berkley, which served pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students, at the end of the 2012-2013 academic year.

Class of 1950 graduate Sylvia Philippi Soullier wore a navy blue, sleeveless jumper over a white blouse when she attended Our Lady of La Salette Catholic School and Academy in the 1940s.

The uniform was just one of many differences between then and now at the Berkley school slated for closure at the end of the 2012-2013 academic year.

For example, when Philippi Soullier started school in 1943, La Salette had just two classes, which were conducted in the basement of the old church. 

The Catholic community in Berkley has worshipped at four different locations and the current church was not completed until 1967, according to "Images of America: Berkley."

Construction on the current school began during an economic boom following the end of World War II in 1945 – when Philippi Soullier said she first attended class in the building – and was finished in 1953, according to "Images of America: Berkley."

The history book reports there were 325 students at La Salette in 1946, compared to 73 in 2013, according to the Archdiocese of Detroit.

"Times are so different than they've ever been," Philippi Soullier said. "It bothers me that they're closing the school."

In La Salette's heyday, Philippi Soullier remembers May Day celebrations, during which students wore wreaths of flowers and crowned the Virgin Mary statue outside the school with blooms, as well as the late Father Laval L. Landry driving her to school.

"Landry took over the parish in 1932 and basically built it from scratch," according to "Images of America: Berkley." "He drove the bus himself and would even pick up public school students and drop them off at their schools. He was considered quite progressive."

Landry also performed Philippi Soullier's wedding ceremony, which was held in 1955 in the school's basement when it served as a church, she said.

"I am saddened. I hate to see it go," Philippi Soullier said of the school. "There were a lot of memories there."

Coming Thursday: Find out how the school closure will impact educators.