'First Donohue to graduate' recalls 84 years

When Margaret Donohue graduated from St. Mary's Academy in Glens Falls 70 years ago, there were cliques in her class, dances were important social activities and basketball games were community events.

While those same things are important to high school life today, there are differences between her high school days and those of students today. For one thing, 84-year-old Miss Donohue was one of the youngest members of the class of '27, graduating at age 15 (the oldest members were 21).

Only a handful of her classmates went on to college, and graduates of the high school were eligible to receive several different diplomas, including academic, advanced academic and college. Graduation was held at the Knights of Columbus Hall, as the magnificent St. Mary's High School building was not yet constructed.

Graduation day

Graduation was bittersweet for the young lady who gave the graduation address. "A boy fainted while I gave my speech," she said. "I kept talking louder. Yes, yes, I can remember it. It was quite an occasion.

"I was the first Donohue to graduate. My dad was so proud of me. But he died the May before graduation. I felt bad he didn't live to see it," she said. "The most difficult time [in my life] was when my father died. I was crazy for him."

Her faith got her through that difficult time. "I went to Mass every day after father died," she said.

Into the world

The world that welcomed young Miss Donohue after graduation was a cruel one. The country was on the threshold of the Depression, and it was difficult to find a job. To make matters worse, her age was a strike against her. "No one would hire me at 15," she said.

After returning to St. Mary's to do "post-graduate" work, which included learning office skills, she was offered a job with J.E. Sawyer Company, a plumbing and heating business. The woman interviewing Miss Donohue took her on after noticing the tears welling up in the applicant's eyes. She stayed with the company for 50 years.

The job was more than an occupation; it was also a necessity for her family's survival. Her mother, widowed at 35, had her daughter to care for as well as a preschool-aged son. With Miss Donohue's salary and $1,000 in insurance money received after her father's death, the mother and daughter were able to scrape together $2,500 to purchase a house on Elm Street in Glens Falls. Miss Donohue lived in the same house until she entered the Hallmark Nursing Home in Glens Falls last spring.

Catholic life

Miss Donohue is a life-long parishioner of St. Mary's Church in Glens Falls. Besides attending the high school, she is also a graduate of the parish elementary school. After her schooling was done, she began to serve the parish.

"For 50 years, I opened envelopes for the church on Sundays and did the census," she said. "You get used to doing things for others. I've had a long life of service. I can't imagine what God wants me to do, but I still try."

Some of her service included helping friends, relatives and neighbors. Today, she tries to be of service by being friendly and helpful to the residents and employees of the nursing home.

Memories

While high school was a challenge because she was younger than her classmates, the world became kinder as she worked.

"I was too young for my class. I was 'in between.' My social life was restricted," she said of high school. But as time went on, "I was busy playing tennis and going to movies, and helping neighbors and the church."

For pleasure, Miss Donohue traveled throughout the United States. Her favorite places include the North Carolina's Outerbanks and the Great Smoky Mountains. "I just liked to see the United States, and to visit museums and the Vanderbilt home," she said. "I was glad to take mother where I could. I thought she deserved to go."

Good life, hard life

Miss Donohue lived with her mother until the latter's death ten years ago at 94. Miss Donohue's brother died when he was 22 after being shot on job; he was a game protector.

"It was a good life, but a hard life," Miss Donohue said. "We all have a hard life."

She was inspired by her mother's courage and faith. While Miss Donohue was raised a Catholic, her mother was a Baptist. When her parents married, it was in an evening ceremony in the church rectory. The Donohue side of the family was not pleased to have a Baptist in the family, but they eventually found she often understood the Church better than they did.

"The Catholic relatives called her to find out if it was a holy day," Miss Donohue said. "Mom was a better Catholic than most of us. She read the Mass each day, but she never converted. She'd make soup and send it down to the rectory."

In fact, Vatican II "bothered mother more than me. She thought the Catholic Church would never change. I went along with it. I accept the changes," she said.

Lifetime connections

Miss Donohue still keeps in contact with some of her classmates from St. Mary's. One resides in the same nursing home; she contacts others on the phone or through letters. While most of them married, Miss Donohue did not.

"I thought I'd get married and have five kids," she said. "I was patient. I nagged wonderfully. No one asked me, so I had another vocation."

She's grateful for the opportunity to work for the same company for 50 years, for all of the traveling she was able to do, for the time she spent with her mother, and for all of her cousins.

She offered these words of advice for young people wanting to live a good life: "Use your time and talents. I always did."

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