St. Mary's Elementary School opened in Wayne in the fall of 1954. In the 70 years since that opening, a student with a connection to the Dorcey family has been enrolled at the school nearly every year.
In 1954 Jerry Dorcey was a fifth grader and along with his siblings, Mark, a sixth grader; John, a fourth grader and Tom, a third grader, were students at the newly opened school. Later, siblings Mary Ann, Kevin and Susan would also attend the school.
Their father, Felix, was president of the St. Mary's Men's Club that helped build the school along Highway 35. The church at that time was located at Fourth and Windom Streets.
"There were two rooms of students, one for first through fourth grade and one for fifth through eighth grade. There was also one room that was used as the chapel. We had Mass everyday," Jerry said.
He said classes were taught Benedictine nuns from Norfolk. These nuns lived in a quanset building east of the school before moving into a house.
"We went to Mass every day and boys were altar servers for weddings and funerals. We had to do chores like taking out the trash or scooping sidewalks in the winter," Jerry said. "Girls got to babysit during Deanery meetings."
After eighth grade students either went to Wayne High School or to Hahn (on the Wayne State College campus).
Jerry remembers being late to school on a number of occasions because he had to do chores. The punishment was to write "I will not be late to school" a number of times.
During that time, the basement of the school was used for programs and where students went to eat lunch.
One of Jerry's most vivid memories of his time at the school was a magazine drive in which the student who sold the most magazines would receive a watch.
"I walked all over town selling magazines, and sold the most. But then somehow, they changed the rules and I didn't win. Eventually, they put the names in a hat, and my name was drawn so I did get the watch," he said.
After some time, seventh and eighth grades were dropped from the school and later kindergarten added. In the 1990s, a pre-school was added.
All of Jerry's 11 children attended St. Mary's, along with several of his nieces and nephews. They were taught by lay teachers, rather than nuns.
Daughter Jerrae (Dorcey) Braun started kindergarten at a country school outside of Wayne and came to St. Mary's in first grade. There were eight students in her class.
She remembers her teacher having students kneel on the floor if they were in trouble.
She said that by the time she started attending St. Mary's Elementary in the last 1970s, a new church had been built just to the north of the school (the current location of the church).
She said the classrooms in the building are in the same location today as they were when she was a student. The room that was the chapel when her father went there has been turned into a classroom also.
"We went to Mass everyday and also went to funerals. If there was a Holy Day, we only had a half day of school," Jerrae said.
She remembers having Wayne State College students come in and teach music class. In addition, Hank Overin taught PE and took students to various locations in Wayne for class.
"I remember Father coming down for Religion class, learning the Beatitudes and the books of the Bible in order," Jerrae said. "We had Religion class every day."
When the weather was bad, Mass was held in the basement of the school.
Jerrae said that while the students could not wear shorts to school, there was no official dress code.
She said during her time at the school, girls were able to serve as readers and song leaders, but could not be altar servers.
Jerrae that she (and her children) did not have any problems transitioning to Wayne Public Schools after their time at St. Mary's.
"We did play Rec ball with the kids from the public school, so we got to know them before we left St. Mary's," she said.
While she doesn't remember how much tuition was when she was a student, she does remember it being $500 per student (with a multiple student discount) when she began sending her children there.
Jerrae's son, Ben, along with his five siblings all attended St. Mary's.
"I went to St. Mary's pre-K through sixth grade from 1998 to 2006," Ben said. He had four students in his class each of these years.
"Kindergarten was in the basement at that time. I had four kids in my class the whole time," Ben said.
Ben's first and second grade teacher was Mrs. Mary Brady, who happens to currently be teaching his three daughters.
Among his favorite memories of being a student a the school are the fact that because it was a small school, " I knew everybody."
He also remembers playing kick-ball on the playground and the fact that he and his family helped with the installation of the blue jungle gym that is currently on the playground.
Ben's daughters, Alaina, Harper and Ryleigh are now attending St. Mary's, creating the fourth generation of the family to enjoy the benefits of the educational and spiritual opportunities offered at a parochial school.
Alina will be a fourth grader and shared some of the things she likes best about going to St. Mary's.
"I like Math class and going on field trips. Ponca is my favorite. We also got to go to the Planetarium," she said.
Alina has been attending St. Mary's since pre-K and has four students in her class.
Currently the students attend Mass once a week on Friday morning and go to the church to pray the rosary and do Stations of the Cross.
"This next year I will be able to be an altar server," she noted.
Fundraising has always been vital to the school with the sale of pies and socks conducted this year.
"We also had Crazy Hat Day where we had to pay to wear a hat," Alina said.
"One of the benefits of attending St. Mary's is that students can learn every day that they can have their faith and share it with those around them, like stopping to pray when an ambulance goes past the school," Jerrae said.
