Announcement
Newest members of the Vandebilt Catholic High School Hall of Fame were honored recently. Accepting awards from left, with school president Jeremy Gueldner, are: Brother Ronald Hingle, S.C., on behalf of Brother Anthon Miklic, S.C.; Dr. Fritz Rau along with his five sons on behalf of Rhoda Rau; and Mike Barker.
Vandebilt Catholic High School inducts three new Hall of Fame members Vandebilt Catholic High School inducted three new members into its Hall of Fame this year: the late Brother Anthon Miklic, S.C.; the late Rhoda Rau, and Michael Barker. The Vandebilt Catholic Hall of Fame was established to honor those with outstanding achievements, accomplishments, service and/or dedication to the school. In 2022, the school adopted a new nomination and selection process in order to further preserve, strengthen, and honor Vandebilt Catholic. The hope is that those selected as Hall of Fame members will be an inspiration to current students, staff and community members. Vandebilt Catholic Hall of Fame recognition is bestowed upon up to four long-time supporters of Vandebilt Catholic. Hall of Fame recipients are former faculty, staff, alumni, parents and/or community members who through their outstanding achievements in their spiritual, professional and civic lives, have brought honor to themselves and Vandebilt Catholic, and whose contributions have had a broad and positive impact on others.
Brother Ronald Hingle, S.C., provincial of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, accepted the Hall of Fame Induction award on behalf of Brother Anthon Miklic, S.C. Brother Anthon (Francis Joseph) Miklic, S.C., was born in Tuscaloosa, AL. He entered the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in Metuchen, NJ, in 1935, pronouncing first vows in 1937 and making final profession in Bay St. Louis, MS, in 1943. Brother Anthon probably had very few childhood memories that did not involve the Brothers. At only nine years old, Brother Anthon’s mother died and he was placed in foster care. In 1926, he arrived at the Boys’ Industrial School (BIS), an institution in Mobile, AL, conducted by the Brothers. He continued at McGill Institute and remained there until he entered the Brothers of the Sacred Heart community in Metuchen, NJ, in December 1935. During his years at BIS, Brother Anthon came into contact with those Brothers whose good example and influence helped develop in this young man many of the enviable characteristics that emerged
36 • Bayou Catholic • Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux • July 2022
in his later life: Energy, initiative, discipline, a love of work, kindness and helpfulness. It was during these same years at BIS and McGill Institute that Brother Anthon became an accomplished musician and a star athlete. Well over six feet, he starred in football while in high school where he won All-State honors as a lineman for the McGill Yellow Jackets of Mobile, AL. In later years, his love for athletics led him to golf and he liked nothing better than to use his strength to drive the ball “a country mile” down the fairway. His strengths were not restricted to things physical. While in high school, he also studied music under the perfectionist, the late professor Joseph H. Taverna, M.M., and became an accomplished clarinetist. From his start as an elementary teacher for eight years in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Huntington, N.Y.; and the Bronx, N.Y.; to a four-year assignment at St. Aloysius in New Orleans, Brother Anthon demanded the same perfection of his students that he himself exhibited. Although he did not get a master’s degree until he was 53 years
