[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 86 (Tuesday, May 23, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1099-E1100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF PIO NONO 
COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL AND THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF DON 
                           BOSCO HIGH SCHOOL

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                         HON. GERALD D. KLECZKA

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 23, 1995
  Mr. KLECZKA. I would like to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the 
founding of Milwaukee's Pio Nono College and High School and the 50th 
anniversary of the founding of my alma mater, Don Bosco High 
School. [[Page E1100]] 
  For more than a century, quality Catholic education has been 
available on Milwaukee's South Side thanks to the traditions forged by 
Pio Nono College and High School and by Don Bosco High School. Although 
these two outstanding schools have since merged to become Milwaukee's 
Thomas More High School, the standards of excellence and commitment to 
Catholic principles which they established remain as strong and true as 
ever.
  Pio Nono College was founded in 1870 and initially trained young men 
in music and teaching. For a time, Pio Nono stood as one of this 
country's foremost centers of Catholic liturgical music. As the 
educational needs of the Milwaukee diocese evolved, the focus of Pio 
Nono changed. Over the years, Pio Nono was transformed into a boarding 
and day school for young men, later into the St. Francis Minor 
Seminary, and by 1965, into Pio Nono High School. Throughout these 
changes, Pio Nono's commitment to providing quality Catholic education 
never wavered.
  By the mid 1940's, the need arose on Milwaukee's South Side for a 
high school serving young men who sought a Catholic education, but who 
were not called to join a seminary. In 1945, Don Bosco High School was 
founded in response to that need. For the next two and a half decades, 
Don Bosco High School, under the guidance of the Marianist order of 
priests and brothers, prepared scores of Milwaukee's young men for the 
lifetime of challenges that lay before them. I am very proud to be 
among those members of our community who received their scholastic and 
spiritual foundation at Don Bosco.
  By the late 1960's, the needs of the Milwaukee diocese had again 
changed, and in 1972, these two institutions were merged into Thomas 
More High School. This year, as we celebrate the 125th anniversary of 
the founding of Pio Nono and the 50th anniversary of the founding of 
Don Bosco, we can be proud that the traditions of those outstanding 
schools are being carried forward into the future by Thomas More. The 
alumni of Pio Nono, Don Bosco, and Thomas More owe a debt of thanks to 
the men and women, past and present, who cared enough to make quality 
and affordable Catholic education available to our community.


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