St. Anthony School celebrates centennial

St. Anthony School between 1933-1938.

Archived  photo

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In 1916, children of Mexican migrant farmworkers who picked cotton and vegetables in the fields surrounding Robstown began to meet in a makeshift classroom at St. Anthony of Padua Church. The classroom was converted back to a church for Sunday Mass. That was the start of St. Anthony School, which is celebrating its centennial this school year. 

At the urging of Father Leonard P. Cunningham, CP, pastor of St. Anthony's, Mother Julia Navarette of Missionary Daughters of the Most Pure Virgin Mary from Kingsville provided the first teachers for the school. They were Sisters Virginia Fischer, Concepcion Pro and Maria Lomeli.

The parish could not support the school and it was closed in 1920, but three years later Father Juan Canales reopened it with the help of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament who sent teachers for the school. Sisters Encarnación Calderón, Aloyious Young, Mary Joseph Eichman, Ephrem Haynes, Mary of the Sacred Heart Llagumo and a postulant who later became Sister Auxiliadora Navarrete.

Conditions in the 1920s in the parish of St. Anthony were very difficult. There was great poverty in Robstown. Streets were not paved, and in many rainy seasons, the mud was so deep that the sisters had to wear knee-length boots to cross from the convent to the church or school. They had no car, and their rare trips to Corpus Christi had to be made by a slow train. 

Sisters Joseph, Ephrem, and Julie were quite advanced in years so it was difficult for them to cope with the problems. However, at the end of the first school year, Sisters Ephrem and Mary of the Sacred Heart volunteered to remain in Robstown to teach summer school, and the sisters returned to St. Anthony's for the next three years.

In 1925, Sisters Julie Bigard and Rose Lynch arrived in Robstown to take care of the convent and prepare meals. That same year Sister Brigid O'Neill replaced Sister Julie who was ill, and Sister Fidelis Dunn came to teach at the school.

The following year the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament withdrew from St. Anthony's and were temporarily replaced by the Missionary Daughters of the Most Pure Virgin Mary from Mexico. 

In 1927, Bishop Emmanuel Ledvina summoned the sisters from Kingsville and this time they continued to teach at St. Anthony's for many years. They were then Mother Superior Julia Navarrete—now Venerable Mother Julia—who came with Sisters Ana María Olavarrieta, Rosa María de León, María Antonia Medellín and María de Ignacio. 

Father William Ostendorf, a missionary of the Congregation of the Holy Family, succeeded Father Canales as pastor in 1931 and the parish began to thrive and the school doubled in size. Father Ostendorf, and the sisters established many organizations that involved the people in church activities and gave them many opportunities to assist in the church. Bishop Ledvina constructed a convent and enlarged the school.

A new school was built under Msgr. E. G. Bartosch who became pastor of St. Anthony's Parish in 1962 and guided the parish until 1968. In 1968, St. Anthony School joined the Diocese of Corpus Christi in seeking accreditation with the Texas Education Agency. 

In 1987, the nearby elementary school at St. John Nepomucene closed and students who had been in grades four through six transferred to St. Anthony’s. As a result, St. Anthony School had to raise tuition to cover the new costs.

While consolidation seemed to go fairly smoothly in the classroom, it seemed to usher in a period of economic uncertainty for the school. Costs were rising while the local economy was suffering. Despite difficulties, the students, parish, teachers, sisters and alumni remained dedicated to the school. 

Priests from the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity began to serve at St. Anthony's in 1989 and in 1995 pastor Father Vincent Albano, SOLT, petitioned the Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Rosemarie Kamke, to add seventh and eighth grades. 

It was not until 1996 that the Diocesan School Board gave approval to Father Albano to move forward with a plan to expand St. Anthony School to include the sixth and seventh grades. The following year the Diocesan School Board gave its approval for adding an eighth grade for the school year 1997-98.

In 2014, pastor Father Anthony Blount, SOLT added a cafeteria and more classrooms in honor of Venerable Mother Julia Navarrette. 

Today the Religious Missionaries of St. Dominic, including Sisters Eva Lucida Gamotin, who is school principal, Flaviana Macasling, Adela Sereno, Amor Vigare and lay teachers staff the school with grades Pre-K3 through 8th.

St. Anthony School in Robstown will celebrate its 100th Anniversary on April 29, 2017. Bishop Michael Mulvey is scheduled to celebrate Mass at 10 a.m. followed by a tour of the campus. There will be lunch at the Padua Parish Hall between 12-1 p.m., an evening dinner at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds at 6 p.m. and for adults only there will be a dance and live band entertainment between 8 p.m.-12 a.m. 

(Information for this article was obtained from the Diocese of Corpus Christi Archives.)
 

Teachers, staff and students gather in front of St. Anthony School in honor of their school's 100th Anniversary. Contributed photo