More than 160 family and friends gathered at Marian Catholic High School on May 18 for the second annual Distinguished Alumnus Award and Hall of Fame Celebration, according to a press release from the school.

The recipients of the Distinguished Alumnus Award were the late Hugh “Wink” Gallagher, Class of 1931, from St. Jerome’s High School; Alice Yacobenas Miller, Class of 1968, from Marian Catholic High School; and Bruce Svetz, Class of 1983, from Marian Catholic High School.

Marian also welcomed eight individuals and one Marian family into the Class of 2024 Hall of Fame including:

• Former Marian principal the Rev. Monsignor Edward Sacks, of Allentown.

• Arthur Coury, Class of 1958, of Boston, Massachusetts (formerly of Lansford).

• Jane F. Engler, Class of 1961, of Jim Thorpe (posthumously).

• Maureen Clausius Heffelfinger, Class of 1961, of Lansford

• Joe Velitsky, Class of 1962, of Summit Hill.

• Bill Stulginsky, Class of 1969, of Newtown Square, (formerly of Mahonoy City).

• Jean Engler, Class of 1977, of Jim Thorpe.

• John E. Morgan, of Tamaqua (posthumously).

• Ermano and Diane Agosti, of Lake Hauto (posthumously, parents of five Marian graduates and nine grandchildren who are Marian graduates; 14 grandchildren in total).

• Joe Agosti, Class of 1977, of Millsboro, Deleware.

• Jim Agosti, Class of 1978, of Tamaqua.

• Patti Agosti Confer, Class of 1981, of Tamaqua.

• Steven Agosti, Class of 1982, of Tuscarora.

• Bobby Agosti, Class of 1988, of Lake Hauto

The Hall of Fame was established in 2023 to honor and recognize alumni from Marian Catholic High School, St. Ann’s High School, St. Jerome’s High School, St. Mary’s High School and Mauch Chunk Catholic High School, along with faculty, staff and special friends, who are distinctively dedicated to serving their community in a way that upholds the tradition and teachings of Marian Catholic High School and its mission. The Hall of Fame honors those individuals who have had significant lifetime achievement and service to Marian, the Catholic church and their communities.

Father Robert Finlan, pastor of St. John XXIII Parish in Tamaqua, and St. Richard, of Chichester Parish in Barnesville, offered the invocation, and former Tresckow native the Very Rev. Eugene P. Ritz, Class of 2000, vicar for clergy and the director of the Office of Permanent Diaconate Formation for the Diocese of Allentown, offered the closing prayer.

Leo Marzen, Class of 1979, of Stamford, Connecticut, and Larry Furey, Class of 1979, of Naples, Florida, both members of the board of directors at Marian, shared the master of ceremonies duties.

This year’s event raised over $35,000 for the school’s Scholarship Fund.

Marian Catholic High School is a private, co-educational Roman Catholic high school in Hometown, north of Tamaqua, for students in grades nine to 12 from many communities and many faiths in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties.

Established in 1954 after the consolidation of St. Jerome’s High School in Tamaqua, St. Mary’s High School in Coaldale and St. Ann’s High School in Lansford, it sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown.