Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

By TIMOTHY J. GIBBONS; Times Leader Correspondent
Saturday, June 03, 1995     Page: 3A

WILKES-BARRE — Drawing upon a rich Catholic tradition, the 86 members of
Bishop O’Reilly High School’s class of 1995 were urged Friday to fulfill their
destiny and fight for social justice.
   
“The world has so many problems that need to be solved, and it needs you to
solve them,” commencement speaker Sharon Ransavage told the graduates.
    Ransavage, who graduated from Bishop O’Reilly 30 years ago, is a New Jersey
county prosecutor — that state’s equivalent of a district attorney.
   
“The seeds of who I am were planted in my formative years,” Ransavage said.
“The foundation for life’s choices and the road I traveled … was laid in
high school, at Bishop O’Reilly High School.”
   
The prosecutor urged the graduates to fight for life and society’s
castaways, to reject materialism and to protect the environment.
   
“We must learn to appreciate nature as a spiritual resource,” Ransavage
said. “We must protect that which not only physically sustains us but puts us
in touch with our souls. We are all connected to this huge organism called
Mother Earth. We must learn to appreciate nature as an important spiritual
resource.”
   
This emphasis on faith and duty was reiterated by the other speakers who
took to the stage of the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, where the
ceremony was held.
   
“With our strong moral foundation, we will be the ones to help solve the
world’s problems,” salutatorian Todd Vinovrski said in his welcoming remarks.
“Our strength lies in our Catholic faith.”
   
Valedictorian Molly Ann Gainard also praised the training she received at
Bishop O’Reilly.
   
“Because of our education, we have the capacity to stand up for what we
believe in,” she said. “These values make us capable of making a difference in
the world. We’ve already begun by making a difference in each other.”
   
The commencement ceremony emphasized the duty of Bishop O’Reilly students
though the “Queen’s Challenge.” The traditional encouragement to the following
year’s senior class was delivered by this year’s senior class president Gary
Lee Quinn Jr. He exhorted the students to “be the kind of senior class
underclassmen will be proud to look up to.”
   
The challenge was received by next year’s president, Kendra Reid.
   
The Rev. Richard A. Zavacki, president of the school’s board of pastors,
also encouraged the students to put into practice what they had learned.
   
“You know what Bishop O’Reilly stands for,” he said. “I hope you have the
courage to go out and live it.”
   
The graduates are: Ted Babowicz, Stephen S. Batory, Matthew Patrick
Berneski, Michael Regis Brice, Jason Paul Butz, Christopher David Caccia,
Laura Marie Chandler, Holly Christine Conniff, Michael Patrick Crawley Jr.,
David Philip Cybuck, Kristin Lauren Dancheck, Maria Michelle Dimino, Kelly Ann
Donlin, Kelly Jean Dowd, Gina Mary Esgro, Molly Ann Gainard, James A. Gaydos,
Angela Janine Gialanella, Robert Alan Gruner, Paul F. Guido, Jill Ann Marie
Gushka, Beth Anne Hegedus, Matthew Martin Holland, Jeffrey J. Hornlein, Maria
Hosey, Eileen Mary Rose Hrobaski, Johanna Ruth Hudock, Kelly Johnson, Amy
Marie Jones, Christopher S. Joseph, Heather Elizabeth Judge, Kevin Joseph
Kodra, Megan Marie Kopicki, Adam Lyle Kuzma, Margaret Mary Leahey, Metz Marie
Loberg, Angela Terese Madden, Carmen F. Magistro, Michael Patrick Makalusky,
Charles H. Malpass, Lauren Mascioli, Scott Meade, Jeffrey John Mesaros,
Christopher Steven Moss, Allison Joelle Mugford, Mary Julia Mulcahy, David
Christopher Mullery, Carlin Marie Munster, Daniel Anthony Nelson, Brian
Michael O’Donnell, Michael John Pavolonis, Elizabeth Pisano, Amy Elizabeth
Pollick, Bridgett K. Pollick, Gary Lee Quinn Jr., Rebecca Lyn Elizabeth
Reggie, Christopher J. Robinson, Jamie Ann Roman, Heather Kathryn Roos,
Elizabeth Ann Marie Rosengrant, Robert Rowlands, Jennifer Anne Sabatura, Sean
Patrick Salmon, Lori Anne Scott, Nicole Elizabeth Sennett, Amy Lynn Shepherd,
Christina Theresa Catherine Sherin, Jeffrey Robert Sirianni, Linda Ann Marie
Smigielski, Elizabeth Anne Smurkowski, Samuel D. Sprow, Edward Walter
Stanchak, Dale A. Stine Jr., Krystyna M. Suchecki, John Edward Thomas, Robin
Tupper, Jorg Christian Umpfenbach, Jill Elizabeth Unice, Jennifer Rose Uter,
Todd Joseph Vinovrski, Carissa Marie Walton, Kenneth Joseph Weiss, Megan Beth
Williams, Nicole Lee Ann Yeselski, Renee Diane Zeglin and Joseph E. Zondlo.
   
TIMES LEADER/FRED ADAMS
   
Ted Babowicz adjusts his tie at a mirrored column in the lounge of the
Kirby Center before the Bishop O’Reilly graduation ceremony Friday. He was
joined by his his friends Brian O’Donnell, left, and Mike Crawley.