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Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame

High School of the Archdiocese of Miami

4949 NE 2 Avenue

                                                Miami, Florida 33137

 

Press release – April 27, 2005

 

Archbishop Curley Notre Dame Hall of Fame

 

            In a night to celebrate the past, evaluate the present and plan for the future, Archbishop Curley Notre Dame held its Second Annual Hall of Fame Dinner, April 9th.  ACND honored seven individuals who have left an indelible mark at the school and the community. 

           

            A special In Memoriam Award was given to the family of  Mrs. Ruth Barbick.  Mrs. Barbick taught at Notre Dame Academy for more than a decade and went on to become the first lay person principal of a Catholic School at Holy Family Parish in North Miami.

 

Two other very accomplished women, Mrs. Helen Aguirre-Ferre ’75 and Ms. Betty Wright ’71, were also honored.  Mrs. Aguirre-Ferre is Opinion Page Editor of Diario Las Americas, moderator of WPBT’s Issues, and President of the Board of Trustees of Miami Dade Community College. 

 

Before graduating from Notre Dame Academy, Ms. Wright had a gold record with “Clean Up Woman”.  She went on to become a Grammy winning artist and record company owner.   Ms. Wright also works as a vocal producer helping such stars as Jennifer Lopez and Joss Stone. 

 

Three prominent figures in Archbishop Curley and the city of Miami athletics were also inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Mr. Francis Michael Curci ‘56 was named “All-City, All-Conference, Catholic All-State, and All-Tourney” while attending Archbishop Curley.  He went on to become the first University of Miami quarterback to earn All-American honors and later return to U.M. as head coach.

 

Mr. Carroll E. Williams ’63 and Mr. Philip Matthew Petta began their careers together at Archbishop Curley in 1961.  Mr. Williams played basketball and football in high school and went on to play for the Montreal Allouettes.  He returned to Miami to become a Dade county public school administrator and he currently works as a motivational speaker.

 

Mr. Petta served as head basketball coach for the Curley Knights for nearly two decades.  During the 60’s and 70’s, Mr. Petta created a dynasty and placed the school on the state basketball map.   

 

Mr. Tom Romanik of Cloverleaf Lanes was also honored for his dedication to Archbishop Curley Notre Dame.  Mr. Romanik is the parent and grandparent of twelve ACND alums and current students.

 

Archbishop Curley Notre Dame Prep congratulates the honorees and thanks them for making a difference, sharing this moment in history and affirming the fact that we are ACND.

 

Hosts Spero Canton and Lisa Petrillo