Badin celebrates its namesake

'A Taste of Badin' to highlight school

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The Rev. Jeff Bacon of Queen of Peace Church in Millville celebrates a special Stephen T. Badin Mass, Wednesday, Oct. 14, to celebrate the heritage of the school.

Staff photo by Greg Lynch The Rev. Jeff Bacon of Queen of Peace Church in Millville celebrates a special Stephen T. Badin Mass, Wednesday, Oct. 14, to celebrate the heritage of the school.

Fr. Badin was America's first ordained priest.

By Richard O Jones, Staff Writer Updated 7:45 AM Thursday, October 15, 2009

HAMILTON — Stephen T. Badin High School celebrated its history with a special Mass honoring America’s first ordained priest, for whom the school is named.

Senior English teacher Greg Renneker, who was a member of the school’s first graduating class in 1967, told the student body Wednesday, Oct. 14, of the school’s origins as a merger between Hamilton Catholic High School for boys and the Notre Dame High School for girls.

The merger, he said, not only made it easier for the boys to get dates, but also gave the parochial students their own gymnasium to play basketball.

“We didn’t have a place to practice,” he said. “We had to practice all over Hamilton and play our games all over the place.”

Notre Dame High School is now a senior citizen apartment complex across from St. Joseph’s church and school in downtown Hamilton, and the Hamilton Catholic building serves as the headquarters of the Hamilton City School District on Dayton Street.

Even though both boys and girls attended the new school, they attended separate classes until the mid-1970s, Rennaker said.

Marketing Education director Joe DeAngelo, who has taught at Badin for 43 of the school’s 44 years, said there were four choices presented for the school’s name, including John Fitzgerald Kennedy High School, but founders settled on naming it for Fr. Badin.

A native of France, Badin served in the Catholic ministry in the Midwest, ministering to the Natives and helping to found Notre Dame College, earning him the nickname “the Johnny Appleseed of Catholicism.” He served as pastor of St. Mary’s Church, which is now part of the St. Julie Biliart Parish, DeAngelo said.

Fr. Jeff Bacon from Queen of Peace Church delivered the message at the Mass, noting that Fr. Badin had “done some pretty cool things.”

“He was not afraid to stand up to authority, including the bishops, when the time called for it,” he said.

His message compared Fr. Badin, Jesus and Jack Black’s character in the movie “The School of Rock” for questioning authority — “sticking it to the man,” in the movie’s terms — and for calling out hypocrites and posers.

“We do this (Mass) every few years to recognize our legacy,” said Gina Helms, the school’s campus minister and a 1990 graduate of Badin High School. “It’s a nice opportunity to underline for the current students what being a member of the Stephen T. Badin community is all about.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.

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