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| St. George High School 1927-1969 |
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| courtesy of www.saintgeorgehs.com |
The
History of Evanston St. George High School
Evanston (population: 74,239) is located directly north of Chicago in
Cook County and is part of the affluent region along the North Shore of Lake Michigan. The community's beginnings
trace back to the 1830's as part of the Grosse Pointe territory, later to be renamed Ridgeville in the 1850's.
Evanston did not incorporate until 1863 when it was named after the founder of Northwestern University,
John Evans. A number of fraternities and sororities have their national headquarters in Evanston, as does the Women's Christian
Temperance Union (WCTU). The childrens' toy Tinkertoys was born in Evanston.
Both Metra as well as the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) run trains thru Evanston daily to those in need
of having to go into downtown Chicago or to other places that the services go to. US Highway 41 also runs along the lakefront.
St. George High School opened as an all-boys' institution in September 1927 to 152
boys, staffed by the Christian Brothers community at 350 Sherman Avenue in Evanston. The school grew to as many as 1,100
students after World War II, continuing to be an option for those who wanted to send their teenage sons to a Catholic high
school north of Chicago, but eventually Notre Dame High School for Boys would open in nearby Niles in 1955 and Loyola Academy
moved from Chicago to nearby Wilmette two years later to give some competition to St. George.
Due to declining enrollment, the Christian Brothers decided to close St. George in 1969. There
is a website for St. George graduates to share memories and inform them of annual get-togethers. The address is www.saintgeorgehs.com.
One reader tells us that the St. George school building was torn down "years ago." The land is now
being used as a parking lot for St. Francis Hospital
FACTS ABOUT ST. GEORGE HIGH SCHOOL
Year opened:
1927
Year closed:
1969
School nickname: "Dragons"
School colors:
Blue & White
School song:
"St. George Victory Song" (see words below)
Name of yearbook: the "Georgian"
Name of newspaper: the "Dragon"
"St. George Victory Song"
(words & music submitted by alumnus Rene John (RJ) Pelletier--class of 1965):
Blue and White, come on, let's go!
We're going to FIGHT right through the foe!
Shouting a battle cry, whether we do or die,
As side by side along we'll go!
RAH! RAH! RAH!
We will win our victory
If you will FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT straight through!
We'll lead you on with cheers of loyalty,
Come on and FIGHT, we're right with you!
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ATHLETICS
St. George offered football, track, cross-country, basketball, and swimming along with possibly baseball
to its students. At one point, it also offered boxing and softball. The Dragons were a part of the Chicago Catholic League from 1927 until 1961, at which time the school decided to join the IHSA and become charter members of the Chicagoland Prep League with DeLaSalle, St. Mel, and St. Patrick. If you have any information or photos of some of the great teams, players, or coaches, please
let us know at dr.veeman@gmail.com.
FOOTBALL
Without question, this is the sport that put St. George on the map. Under Coach Max Burnell, the Dragons
were 136-50-12 in the 20 years he was the head coach. Our good friend Tom Sikorski tells us that the school won two Prep
Bowl titles, eight Catholic League division titles, had nine appearances in the Catholic League championship
game, plus won two conference titles in the Chicagoland Prep Conference.
The Catholic League was not part of the IHSA in 1961 and its teams could not participate in state tournaments
in any sports. Because they wanted to participate on the state level, St. George and three other schools left
to form the Chicagoland Prep Conference.
As a head coach, Burnell's teams won 303, lost 92, and tied 21 in 36 years of action at four different schools, including
St. George. He was inducted into several different Halls of Fame: the Chicago Catholic League in 1972, the Illinois High
School Football Coaches' Association in 1990, and Loyola Academy in 1994.
Tom informs us that the earliest information about football at the school goes back to 1940, although it is believed
to have gone back further. Here are the better marks of Dragon teams from 1940 thru 1968.
1940 6-1-1 2nd place in Catholic League North
Coach unknown
1941 6-2 3rd place in Catholic League South
Coach unknown
1943 9-1-1 PREP BOWL CHAMPIONS!!!
Coach Max Burnell
Beat Phillips (Public League champion) 19-12
Tied with Mt. Carmel 0-0 in Catholic League Championship
Won coin flip to decide who would face Phillips in Prep Bowl
(Also beat Mount St. Michael's of Bronx, NY 25-20 in special interdivisional game at the Polo Grounds in New York following
the Prep Bowl)
1944 6-3-1 5th place in North Division
Coach Max Burnell
1945 8-1-1 Tied for 1st in South Division
Coach Max Burnell
Lost to Oak Park Fenwick 18-6 in playoff game
1946 7-2-1 2nd place North Division
Coach Max Burnell
1948 7-1 2nd place North Division
Coach Max Burnell
1949 7-2-1 North Division Champs
Coach Max Burnell
Lost
to Fenwick in Catholic League Championship game
1950 4-4-2 3rd place South Division
Coach Max Burnell
1951 8-2 2nd place North Division
Coach Max Burnell
1952 6-2-1 North Division Champs
Coach Max Burnell
Lost
to Mt. Carmel in Catholic League Championship game
1953 10-1 Prep Bowl Champions!! Coach
Max Burnell
Beat Austin 38-12 in Prep Bowl
North Division Champs
Beat Leo 19-7 for Catholic League Championship
Rated 1st in final Chicago Sun-Times Chicago-area poll
1954 10-2 North Division Champs
Coach Max Burnell
Lost
to Mt. Carmel in Catholic League Championship game
1955 9-2 North Division Champs
Coach Max Burnell
Won Catholic League playoff games vs. Mendel & St. Rita
Losing in
Catholic League Championship game to Weber1956 9-1-1 North Division Champs
Coach Max Burnell
.
Won Catholic League playoff games vs. St. Rita & Mt. Carmel
Lost Catholic League Championship to Leo.
1957 7-4 2nd place North Division Coach
Max Burnell
Won Catholic League playoff games vs. Fenwick & Gordon Tech
Lost Catholic League Championship to Mendel1958 3-3-2 4th place North Division
Coach Max Burnell
1959 5-3 2nd place North Division
Coach Max Burnell
Lost to Mendel in Catholic League playoff preliminary game. 1960 8-4 4th place in North Division
Coach Max Burnell
Won Catholic League playoff games vs. Mendel & Leo
Lost
Catholic League Championship to Mt Carmel
1961 7-0-1 Chicagoland Prep Champs
Coach Max Burnell
1962 3-5-1 Chicagoland Prep Champs
Coach Max Burnell
(NOTE:
all wins were over the other three schools in the league)
1963
Coach Len Sparacino
1964-65
Coach Hank Knight
1966-67
Coach Paul Schmitt
1968 2-5-2 Final season
Coach Frank Bauer
Last game
a 21-20 loss to De La Salle
TREMENDOUS WORK BY THE DRAGON GRIDDERS!!!
CROSS-COUNTRY
St. George's teams were up to the challenge to run the terrains of Chicagoland, even as the public school (Evanston Township)
was contending for the state titles during the 1950's and '60's. The Dragons won a district title during the fall of 1962.
We are in need of the coaches' name and any key performers. It is known the program was still in place at the school thru
the final school year in 1968-69 as Pat Savage (later cross-country coach at DePaul) was at the helm.
From well-known Illinois high school sports historian Robert Pruter:
"St. George’s fabulous cross
country program, under Coach Don Amidei, won seven Catholic League titles and two Chicagoland Prep titles. Their greatest star was Tom Sullivan."
1953
Catholic League Champions
Coach Don Amidei 1954 Catholic League Co-Champions
Coach Don Amidei 1955 Catholic League Champions
Coach Don Amidei 1956 Catholic League Champions
Coach Don Amidei 1958 Catholic League Champions Coach
Don Amidei
| Catholic League Champs of 1958 |
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| Courtesy of Robert Pruter |
1959 Catholic League champion
Coach Don Amidei
1960 Catholic League champion
Coach Don Amidei
1961 Chicagoland Prep champion
Coach Don Amidei
1962 Chicagoland Prep champion
Coach Don Amidei
District Champions
1968 last season
Coach Pat Savage
From Jay Shaw (St. George alum of 1968):
"I graduated from St. George in 1968 and ran cross country 4 seasons, '64, '65, '66 & '67, track
for 3 seasons ('66, '67 & '68). The cross country coach for '64 and '65 was Robert Cinkus (sp?). He was the reading teacher,
and one mean dude. He would follow us to and from Dawes Park with the top down on his brown Ford Galaxy convertible telling
us to run faster.
"Workouts varied from 10 to 15 miles per day, six days per week. We were wrecks by the end of the
season. I believe that Coach Cinkus was the Coach in '62 and '63 also. Sorry if I don't have the spelling correct, but my
yearbooks got tossed out while I was in the Navy. "Brother Edward was the coach for the 1966 cross country season. He was a pretty
good coach, but he was transferred the next year.
"We didn't have a full-time coach my senior year (fall of '67). Coach Don Amidei,
who was coaching De Paul University at the time, but still teaching at St. George, would give me the work-outs for the team.
We'd then jog out to Dawes Park and do the workouts pretty much on our own. We did have a faculty moderator, Mr. Huntoon (sp?),
who would meet us there, but he wasn't actually a coach. Coach Amidei was at our meets. On Saturday mornings we would meet
with Coach Amidei in Lincoln Park and workout with the De Paul University team. Those were killer workouts."
"Coach Amidei was the beach master at Foster (Avenue) Beach in the summer. During August of '67, he
had us come down to Foster Beach and work out there."
TRACK & FIELD
The Dragons, even though their school did not belong to the IHSA at the time, had one of the best
runners in the nation in 1961. Tom Sullivan ran the 1600 in 4:02.4 (a converted time from the mile of
4:03.5 to 1600 meters), which was the nation's best until future Olympian Jim Ryun broke the record three years later
at 3:59.0. Tom also had a time of 1:49.9 in the 800 meters that season, plus posted the best indoor time in the 1000 yards
at 2:10.5 (also set in 1961), which lasted 11 years. For his efforts, Sullivan shared the Track &
Field News' Athlete of the Year award that year with Ulis Williams (a 440-yard runner) from Compton, CA.
BASKETBALL
Even though we haven't been able to find anything close to a win-loss record and names of coaches,
there was basketball at St. George. In fact, its' lightweight team won the Catholic League title in 1938-39, while two varsity
teams either shared or won a title outright as the best in the league.
1938-39 Catholic League Lightweight Champions
1943-44 Co-Catholic League Varsity Champs w/Mt. Carmel
1952-53 Catholic League Varsity Champions
| St. George Basketball Team of 1953 |
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| Submitted by Dave |
| Evanston St. George Action Photo of 1953 |
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| Submitted by Dave |
| St. George Basketball Action Photo of 1953 |
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| Courtesy of Dave |
One of its alumni is Tony Barone, who graduated in 1964 and attended Duke University, where he
was named Academic All-American.
Barone would stay involved with the game as an assistant coach at three Chicago Catholic League high schools (including
St. George), before going to the collegiate level as an assistant at Duke and Bradley, plus was head coach at Creighton
and Texas A & M. Barone also served as interim head coach of the Nashville Grizzlies after serving as their director
of player development. If you know more about the Dragons' basketball program, please contact us.
BOXING
This may sound peculiar, but it was a common practice for schools to have a boxing team years ago. St. George had
one that ran from the time the school opened until sometime into the 1930's. Athletic Director Jake Drees
was head coach, and unfortunately passed away while he was instructing his team, according to this link from a family website:
http://heckenbach.org/Drees.html,
SOFTBALL
During the spring of 1943, St. George was one of seven Catholic League schools that played softball instead of baseball
as an experiment on account of the success that Catholic Youth Organizations were having with the sport. The Dragons were
crowned champions with a win-loss mark of 6-1, in spite of the fact that half of the Catholic League games
were cancelled due to the rain and inclement weather that spring.
SWIMMING
The Dragons took to the pool along with other Catholic League teams to compete, and came away with one conference title.
Names of coaches and other swimmers are unknown.
1931-32 Chicago Catholic League Champions
GOLF
Robert Pruter lists
the following successes for the Dragons on the golf course:
St. George won the following senior
golf titles.
1949 Catholic League
champion
1950 Catholic League champion
1952 Catholic League champion
1953 Catholic League champion
1959 Catholic League champion
St George won the following junior
golf titles
1948 Catholic League champion
1949 Catholic League
champion
1950 Catholic League champion
1951 Catholic League champion
1952 Catholic League champion
1957 Catholic League champion
1958 Catholic League champion
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FAMOUS ALUMNI
-- Henry Hyde (class of 1942) --Served in US Congress from the sixth District of
Illinois (near Chicago).
-- Max Burnell, Jr. (class of 1958) --Quarterback of the Dragon football program under
the guidance of his father/coach (Max, Sr.), later went on to play collegiately at Notre Dame, where he graduated with
a Bachelor of Science degree. Today, Max Jr. is the president and CEO of Southern Sales Systems, a leader in food service
brokerage located near New Orleans, LA.
-- Chuck Erlenbaugh (class of 1963) --All-State football player in 1962 at guard. Went
on to play at Purdue University as a teammate of pro football Hall of Famer Bob Griese, leading the Boilermakers to victory
of the 1967 Rose Bowl over the University of Southern California (USC). Erlenbaugh returned to the prep game after college
as a teacher and coach at Loyola Academy in Willmette in 1969, staying there long enough to teach physical education,
plus coach football, tennis, and volleyball, in addition to being the assistant athletic director over a 30-year period. He
was named to Loyola's Athletic Hall of Fame as well the Chicago Catholic League's Hall of Fame.
MEMORIES
From E.L. Foertsch (class of 1958):
"Two things. Noted Alumni, you mentioned Max Burnell Jr. He graduated in 1958. You also pictured the winning
Cross-Country team, 1958. Thanks, I'm the one in the last row, far right."
From Tom Heineman (class of 1966):
"I was on the swim team from 1962 thru 1966. Coach McCormick was the coach in 1962. Coach Jerry Richards was
the coach from 1963 to 1966 and beyond. We had some decent swimmers on the team and actually made the IHSA district finals
in 1966 in the 400 yd free relay (John Wimer, Mark Mikucki, Al Biedowicz, Tom Heineman). John Wimer was a Freshman and
was extremely fast; he went on to state finals in the 100 free when he was a sophomore and beyond. Coach Richards did
a really good job bringing the team along and having us compete with some strong suburban teams. I remember beating Lane
Tech when I was a Freshman."
from Bob Johnson (class of 1957):
"1953-54 Swimming: School took 5th place in Catholic League City (Senior) Finals at Loyola Academy (Loyola
U) pool at Devon or North Campus, Spring 1954.
"1954-55 Swimming: School took 2nd Place 50 free final
(team Capt Robert Johnson '57) in 1955 year and 5th place in 1956 same event.
"Robert Johnson and Paul Fee were only students to be
awarded "major letter" as freshmen in 1953-56 swim seasons...qualified for City Finals.
"1953-57 Tennis: failed to qualify from '53 to '57 under
Brother Jerome; Tennis Capt Robert Johnson.
"Chuck Lewandowski ("Lewan") as he was called, was the
swimming coach. Also coached football with (Max) Burnell."
From Bob Schmidt (class
of 1962, his photograph of the school is at the top of the page, dated May 14, 2019):
"Hi-I
am class of 1962 and was on the swim team - not a very good swimmer then, but still doing laps 3-4 times a week. However,
the team had two brothers, Fred and Jim Spreitzer, who were very good. One of them (qualified) for the PanAm Games.
"Another famous alumni? Walter Kerr, theater critic for the NY Times and other publications, playwright,
and producer.
"My cousin (Allen J Korenjak) also went to St. George, probably class
of '59. He went to Notre Dame, then Princeton, before going to the RCA labs. (He) got credit as co-inventor of digital video!
The labs got bought by Intel and he retired, fairly well off (https://www.cedmagic.com/mem/whos-who/korenjak-al.html)."
ALWAYS LOOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION...
if you have any information that you feel would help tell the story of St. George High School, including
the words and music of the school song, pictures of the school, athletes, and coaches, or incomplete information that
we currently are lacking, please send them to us at dr.veeman@gmail.com or by going thru the USPS at:
IHSGD Website
6439 North Neva
Chicago, IL 60631
| Reunion of some 1935 St. George Alumni in 1943 |
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| courtney of Kathleen Brodt |
Members of the class of 1935 who gathered on March 7th, 1943:
Couples from left to right: Mr. and Mrs. James C. Brodt, Mr. and Mrs. James Delaney, Mr. and Mrs. Laurence Gillarde,
Midshipman 2nd Class George McGurn and Miss Eileen Ryan, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Meyer, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Seneker, Mr.
and Mrs. Francis Wernhewer, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Wetsel, and Brother Luke.
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