From the Heart - Sacred Heart of Mary Feature

FROM THE HEART: Patricia Lydon ’76

Patricia Lydon ’76 can’t think about Saint Viator without thinking about Sacred Heart of Mary. Like everyone else at Sacred Heart in the 1970s, Lydon remembers the wonderful memories at Sacred Heart amidst the sign of the times.

“It was an interesting time. The nuns (Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary) had just turned the school over to the Archdiocese. Things were a bit chaotic as the new administration took over. A modular scheduling system was used and it felt like we had a lot of free time. It was a great learning experience about organizations in transition. It was also a transitional and chaotic time in our culture. The Equal Rights Amendment was being debated in state legislatures. The Vietnam War ended in our junior year. In our senior year, we celebrated the United States Bicentennial.”

“My cousin Maureen

McDonnell Reeves ’85

Patricia Lydon’s 1976 senior yearbook photo and her today. and I went to Sacred Heart. My three brothers, Fr. Dan ’73, Jack ’81, and Steve ’82, and three cousins, Mark McDonnell ’86, Matt McDonnell ’92, and Megan McDonnell Cahill ’94 all went to Saint Viator. Mark’s four children, (featured on this issue’s cover) Miles ’16, Payton ’19, Bryce ’20, and Rowan ’22, have all gone through Saint Viator as well. You can’t shake us!”

She speaks about Sacred Heart of Mary being a great place for young women to find their own voices, largely due to the faculty and staff.

“Our many wonderful, devoted teachers and counselors guided and challenged us, Dorothy Jurs, Cheri Neri, Pat Philbin ’65, Judy Amberg, Sally Griffith, Jeanne Sattler, and many others. I will always be grateful to Mrs. Riggs for teaching me to sew. Cheri Neri advised me in my college choice, and I will always be grateful for her guidance.”

Lydon went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in finance at Georgetown and her MBA at Yale University. After working in motion picture production as an assistant director and location manager for over eight years, Patricia found herself applying to a program called the MBA Enterprise Corps, which placed newly graduated MBAs in developing economies to assist their growth. Lydon got to work in Poland for a year.

After returning from Poland, she took a job as director of finance for a boutique law firm, Hogan Marren Babbo & Rose, Ltd in 1998 and has been working there ever since. Patricia has donated her time sitting on the Finance Committee at Saint Viator for many years now, but finds time for other pursuits such as genealogy, quilting, and travel.

While Patricia does not miss the gym uniforms they had to wear back in the day, she enjoys reconnecting with friends from Sacred Heart who live in the area and who have come back to the northwest suburbs.

“We recall making movies, the Spirit of 1976, our Junior Ring ceremony, and a sit-in (but no one remembers why we did it)! There is a lot of laughter when we all get back together! I met my dear friend of 50 years, Marguerite Tully ’76, at Sacred Heart.”

A treasured constant for Patricia is the “Viator Family.” Lydon’s family has had someone attending, teaching or otherwise involved with Sacred Heart or Saint Viator every year, except one, since 1969.

“I’m grateful to Saint Viator for incorporating Sacred Heart of Mary into the school. Whenever I go for meetings or events, I love seeing the Lady of the Moon statue that had been in the Sacred Heart courtyard near the school entrance.” n

Above: “Sophomore Officers” in Moonshadows 1974 yearbook: Dorothy Strobl [Jurs]-faculty advisor (front row), Marguerite Tully, Patricia Lydon, and Donna Becco.