“Open for 30 years and now closed for 30 years,” there’s a “symmetry,” said William “Bill” Werner, a 1974 graduate of Holy Name Seminary in Madison.
In those 30 years of operation, history and legacy filled the halls of the Diocese of Madison seminary.
Ready for occupancy in August of 1964, the school welcomed more than 200 seminarians in its first three years of classes and many more would follow until 1995, when the school closed.
Now three decades later, those associated with Holy Name Seminary are welcome back for a very special occasion.
On Saturday, July 12, an all-school reunion will take place on the former seminary grounds, at Holy Name Heights, 702 S. High Point Rd., Madison, Wis.
Revitalizing the building following the school’s closure, Holy Name Heights houses diocesan offices, Catholic classical middle and high school St. Ambrose Academy, and an apartment community.
All school alumni, former students, faculty, and staff are invited to return — to reconnect, share memories, and learn more about how the building is used today.
‘Filling in the dash’
Werner is helping plan the reunion.
Werner said that the dates of the first graduating class, 1965, and last graduating class, 1995, are important, “but the dash in between, that’s all the people and all the memories”.
“We are the dash,” he said.
“Let’s fill it in and fill in these stories and keep some of these memories alive.”
Werner remembered some of his former teachers who have since died.
He said that “people after the class of 1975-76 never heard of Sr. Marie Monica [Kenney, OP], and yet she absolutely influenced a decade of students.”
Fr. William Seipp, Fr. Francis Steffen, and “the Klink brothers, [Father] Delbert and his brother [Father] Ken” were four other formative faculty members Werner remembered from his time at the seminary.
“Yet, there are people [from] the 80s and 90s we never heard of,” Werner said about himself and his graduating class.
“We want to hear about them as well,” he said.
This all-school reunion is about “filling in the dash of all these different things because it’s the people that matter the most,” Werner described.
Attending the reunion
Arrival and check-in begin at 12 noon at Holy Name Heights on Saturday, July 12.
The reunion includes a catered lunch, tours, time to reconnect, and Mass celebrated by 1974 graduate Bishop Robert H. Flock of San Ignacio de Velasco, Bolivia.
The event is expected to conclude at 6:30 p.m.
The reunion is reserved for school alumni, former students, faculty, staff, and their spouses only. Children are not invited.
Overnight accommodations are available near Holy Name Heights at Tru by Hilton Madison West, 8102 Watts Rd., Madison, or at Comfort Suites Madison West, 1253 John Q. Hammons Dr., Madison.
There will be additional opportunities to gather with classmates throughout the weekend, as planned by each graduating class.
The cost to attend is $35 plus taxes and fees.
To register, visit holyname.eventbrite.com.
For questions or to help with promotion, contact Bill Werner at [email protected].