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Venango Catholic marks anniversary of predecessor

Here is a photo of the old St. Joseph High School on Oil City's North Side. Venango Catholic High School will mark the 80th anniversary of the dedication of its predecessor, St. Joseph High School, on Tuesday.

St. Joseph High School began as the wish of the Rev. Michael Edward Driscoll, then-pastor of St. Joseph Church. His vision was to build a Catholic high school in Oil City that would serve the entire growing Oil Region and would provide an education beyond the parish's grade school, St. Joseph Academy.

Money for the project was raised between 1927 and 1929, and the old convent on the corner of Washington and Seeley avenues was torn down to make room for the proposed high school.

St. Joseph High School was officially dedicated Oct. 19, 1930. The high school eventually flourished to the point that a new facility was needed to accommodate the increase in attendance.

It was from this need that Venango Christian High School was built, and St. Joseph students moved to Venango Christian in the fall of 1962. Venango Christian changed its name to Venango Catholic in 2001.

"The St. Joseph alumni remain an important part of who we are as a Venango Catholic High School community," said the Rev. John Malthaner, the headmaster at Venango Catholic. "We certainly wouldn't be where we are today without the prayers, support and presence of these alumni. Their history should never be forgotten, and we are very proud to call them part of the VC family," Malthaner added.

Venango Catholic is planning a Mass and reception later this fall to commemorate the special anniversary. Details will be announced later, and St. Joseph alumni are welcome to contact Venango Catholic at 677-3098 for more information.

Anyone who has a memory of St. Joseph High School to share can send it to Venango Catholic at 1505 West First St., Oil City, 16301; or e-mail it to vchs@venangocatholic.org. The memory will be posted on the alumni section of the web site.

Originally published in The Derrick on October 16, 2010.