From its founding in the late 1950s, OLS has drawn its spirit from the families who create its distinctive community. Here, we spotlight one of the first families that attended the school and experienced how special it was (and still is!).
The Marasco Family grew up at 948 Mamaroneck Avenue, the house adjacent to Stepinac. Alex started in kindergarten in 1957, the year the school started. That year his brother Bernie was in first grade. Brother Fred joined two years later and graduated in 1968, followed by three sisters. Cece graduated in 1970, Monie in 1974, and Joanie in 1978. The three boys went to Stepinac and the three girls to Good Counsel.
Our parents, Dorothy and Anthony, were very active in the school and the parish. Our family has fond memories of Sister Rose Marie and Monsignor Murtha and Father Reardon. The school, parish, and family life were very much connected, creating a great environment for us six kids to grow up.
We three boys went on to Holy Cross. Cece and Monie went to Fairfield and Joanie to Assumption College. All six of us all went into corporate America and had successful careers. Alex joined the Stepinac Board of Directors ten years ago and remains active with Stepinac.
Fred, after graduating in ’68, returned to OLS in his mid-twenties, serving as the beloved CYO Moderator for hundreds of OLS graduates in high school. He passed away in 2018.
Alex’s fondest memory at OLS was the basketball team coached by Hoot Miller. The team players were Alex and Kevin Crowley, Jim McLaughlin, Larry Cook, Chris Peck, Ricky Young, and several others. This team was the first OLS basketball team to win the JF Kennedy Tournament, the biggest basketball tournament of that era.