Philly's Roman Catholic High receives posthumous gift

James G. McSherry, Roman Catholic High School Class of 1940, helped keep the nation's first free Catholic high school for boys open in the 1980s when it was in danger of closing.

Over the years, McSherry helped Roman in many ways. And even in death, he found an avenue to continue assisting his alma mater.

Roman is scheduled to announce today that McSherry, who died in 2006 at the age of 84, left $425,000 to fund five scholarships at the school at Broad and Vine Streets.

When the bequest is combined with the contributions made in his lifetime, McSherry donated "well over $1 million" to Roman, making him the school's largest benefactor since Thomas E. Cahill, a wealthy coal merchant, founded the school in 1890.

"Roman was his first love," said Austin McGreal, McSherry's lawyer and longtime friend.

The Rev. Joseph W. Bongard, Roman's president and rector, said the school learned of McSherry's gift right before Christmas.

"We were very surprised because he was so generous to the school when he was alive," Bongard said. "We thought he had allocated most of his estate while he was living."

As a result of his past generosity, Roman already had named a building at 13th and Wood Streets that houses the school's alumni and development offices the McSherry Annex.

Shortly after graduating from Roman, McSherry and his best friend and classmate John Murphy briefly went into business together. When Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, the two friends enlisted in the U.S. Army.

McSherry served in India and Australia, McGreal said. Murphy, who became a navigator aboard a B-17, was killed in March 1943, on the day after his 21st birthday while flying his 23d mission over Germany.

Though McSherry had lost his best friend in the war, he told others that his time in the service had been one of his best learning experiences. During his service overseas, he said, he saw equality and respect for other races that he had not seen in the United States.

Bongard said that McSherry welcomed Roman's growing racial diversity because he felt it was important for the school to reflect society.

After the war, McSherry returned to Philadelphia. With the aid of the G.I. Bill, he attended what was then La Salle College and became the first in his family to earn a degree. He founded JG McSherry Real Estate Inc. and also handled insurance.

McSherry, who never married, was an active supporter of Roman for decades. He presided over the alumni association for years, turned out for all sporting events, and even paid the tab so the Roman football team could attend a big Communion breakfast at what was then the Franklin Plaza Hotel.

Quietly, he also provided funds to help young men whose families couldn't afford Roman's tuition.

"He was a wonderful man," McGreal said. "A humble man, really."

In 1985-86, McSherry played a pivotal role in an alumni campaign to keep Roman open. Roman's enrollment had been declining because the Catholic population had dwindled in Roman's feeder parishes. At the time, the school, which had 1,000 students a decade earlier, was projecting an enrollment of 525.

The alumni helped persuade the late Cardinal John Krol to permit Roman to recruit students from anywhere in the five-county archdiocese. At the time, it was the only archdiocesan high school with open enrollment.

Thanks in part to Roman's location and its proximity to the Schuylkill Expressway and bus, subway and rail lines, the plan worked, and Roman's enrollment rebounded. More than 950 students attend now.

McSherry grew up in North Philadelphia in the former St. Stephen's parish at Broad and Butler. At the time of his death he was living in Rhawnhurst.

This afternoon, Roman is to announce that McSherry's bequest will be used for scholarships that will be awarded based on financial need and academic merit. His gift included $212,544 for the James and Nellie McSherry Scholarship to honor his parents.

In addition, McSherry left $53,136 apiece for four other scholarships: the Thomas E. Cahill Adopt-a-Student Program; McSherry Brothers Scholarship; Cahill Club Scholarship; and the Lt. John Murphy '40 Scholarship.