Page 20 - Priorities #50 2011-June/July

20
‘61
Celebrating a 50 year reunion
Dennis Duff
Memories from the class of
Why did you choose Woodside Priory School? How Fondest memories of while you were student here? did you know about it? The relationships that were created with the my My parents chose the Priory. They wanted me to classmates are my fondest memories. We created go to a prep school and it was in California. I was
a dormer. The very first Priory class was about 12
of us. This was the entire student population. As a
freshman I lived with 3 other boys in a small house
with Father Egon, who later became the Prior.
There were two rooms with 2 beds in each room,
plus Father Egon’s room and a living/dining room
and kitchen. A dormitory was later built and by
the time I graduated there were about 20 dormers.
Generally there were 2 people per room, but one
year - I believe it was my senior year - 4 seniors (Jim
Ruffo, John Flynn, Csaba and I - I think - all shared
a room together).
very strong bonds together. We had a great soccer team and also went to my parents ski cabin in Tahoe a number of times. Those were really wonderful trips.
One priest—generally Father Leopold—lived in the large dorm with us. We studied and slept in the dorm and occasionally watched TV, I believe it was on Friday night, in the one common space in the dorm. Our schedule was pretty strict -—we would have classes all morning and part of the afternoon, have sports and then study about 3-4 hours a day. We went to mass every morning, and of course, had meals, but there was not a lot of free time. We also went to school 6 days a week. Saturday was a half of day of classes.
The quality of the teachers was excellent. I remember some of my teachers who were particularly knowledgeable and generated a lot of enthusiasm for their subjects and it was exciting to be in class with them. There was also a lot of comradery between some of the teachers and students. I fondly remember Father Christopher who not only taught us Latin but was a good athlete and our soccer coach. He had a great sense of humor and was very playful with us.
How did you get from Priory to where you are now?
After a very full life of spiritual service which allowed us to live in San Francisco, London, Chicago, New York, Hawaii, Los Angeles and Fiji. My wife, Joan and I, now reside most often in our primary residence in the northern tip of the wine country, just above Napa Valley. I recently sold my Internet Marketing Company and my wife has winded down her successful art business. We are semi-retired now, but still manage to keep pretty busy with my investment properties and real