St. James High School for Boys was a Roman Catholic high school in

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...

in the United States. It was part of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. It covers the City and County of Philadelphia as well as ...

. The mascot was the fighting

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Delco Times The ''Delaware County Daily Times'' is a daily newspaper published in the Primos section of Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is the only major newspaper in the state to be branded with a county name rather than a city. I ...

'' wrote that the ceasing of operations was "as controversial today as it was at the time". St. James Regional Catholic School in

Ridley Park, Pennsylvania Ridley Park is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The population was 7,002 at the 2010 census. Ridley Park is the home of The Boeing Company's CH-47 Chinook helicopter division. History Native American The Lenape inhabited the Delaw ...

, a Catholic

K-8 school K8 or K-8 may refer to: * K-8 (Kansas highway), two highways in Kansas, one in northern Kansas, one in southern Kansas * K-8 school, a type of school that includes kindergarten and grades one through eight * AMD K8, the internal designation for the ...

which opened in 2012, was named in honor of the former St. James High School. The St. James High alumni association suggested the name, and the new school asked to use the name, mascot, and colors. The St. James High alumni headquarters hosted the first fundraiser for St. James Regional.

Alumni association

After the school closed, a group of 20-30 alumni asked the archdiocese to sell or lease the building to them, but the archdiocese refused. The alumni association by 2012 built a membership base of 1,550 which may be the largest and most active alumni in the

Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...

. The St. James High School alumni association established a headquarters in

Eddystone, Pennsylvania Eddystone is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,410 at the 2010 census. History The area at the mouth of Ridley Creek was first called "Tequirassy" by Native Americans. The land was owned by Olof Persson Stille, o ...

with a banquet area, bar, and chapel. It is named the 'Doghouse" as a reference to the school mascot. A monument to the school was established at the headquarters in 2017. Timothy Logue of ''

Delco Times The ''Delaware County Daily Times'' is a daily newspaper published in the Primos section of Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is the only major newspaper in the state to be branded with a county name rather than a city. I ...

'' described the building as "de facto museum of everything St. James" including a "Wall of Honor" highlighting notable graduates. Every

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

, the students in the varsity club conducted a

food drive A food drive is a form of charity that is conducted by a group of individuals or a corporation to stockpile and distribute foodstuffs to people who cannot afford food. Overview Food drives are operated in order to stock food banks that distribute ...

. The alumni association continued it after the school closed. The group of alumni doing it meet at the alumni association headquarters and call themselves "Varsity Club II".

Notable alumni

* T.D. Allman – International literary figure, prize-winning author, foreign correspondent *

Dick Christy Richard Joseph Christy (November 24, 1935 – July 8, 1966) was a collegiate and professional football player. At St. James High School, Christy was twice named 1st Team All-Scholastic by the Philadelphia Bulletin (1952 & 1953). He also led S ...

–

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

player * Frank Gallagher – NFL player *

Robert Harland Robert John Yurgatis is an American stage and television actor. He is known for playing Jack Flood in the American crime drama television series '' Target: The Corruptors!''. Harland attended St. James High School for Boys, later graduating i ...

– television actor *

Joe Klecko Joseph Edward Klecko (born October 15, 1953) is an American former football player, of Polish descent, best remembered for his days as a defensive lineman, a member of the New York Jets' famed "New York Sack Exchange." Temple Owls Before going ...

– NFL player * Jack McKinney –

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

coach *

Jack Ramsay John Travilla Ramsay (February 21, 1925 – April 28, 2014) was an American basketball coach, commonly known as "Dr. Jack" (as he held an earned doctorate). He was best known for leading the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship, a ...

– basketball coach, taught and coached at St. James in 1949

References

External links

St. James Catholic School Alumni Association Website
1993 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Boys' schools in Pennsylvania Chester, Pennsylvania Defunct Catholic secondary schools in Pennsylvania Educational institutions disestablished in 1993 Schools in Delaware County, Pennsylvania {{Pennsylvania-school-stub