Holy Family Student, Teacher Receives Alumni Award

Mary Ellen Yeager, a self-proclaimed “little local girl who never got far from home,” is this year’s recipient of Holy Family School’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

The honor was bestowed upon the 37-year teacher during school-wide mass on Friday morning at Holy Family Church – Yeager's home-away-from-home since she was a toddler.

The award is presented each year to a Holy Family graduate who is a faith-filled disciple of Christ, a Christian leader, a loving, centered, well-rounded person and a life-long learner.

Yeager, a third-grade teacher, credits her parents and their dedication to the Holy Family parish for the path she has happily traveled in life.

“I’m living in the same house I was born in, just two blocks from the school. I walked to school when I was a little girl, but I drive to school now,” Yeager said with a laugh. “My parents were very active in the parish. From the time I could toddle my mom was always taking me there for different activities.”

Yeager attended Holy Family from first grade (there wasn’t a Kindergarten program yet) until her eighth-grade graduation in 1965. She graduated in 1969 from St. Vincent High School in Akron, then received a degree in elementary education from the University of Akron in 1973.

She had worked at the Ben Franklin store in Stow all through high school alongside her mother. Since Yeager didn’t have a teaching job lined up before graduating from college, she continued working at the discount store.

“My eighth-grade teacher, Sister Eugenia, was then principal at Holy Family. Sister Eugenia happened to walk into Ben Franklin one day and my mom said to her, ‘My daughter’s looking for a job.’ I got a call from her a couple days later asking how I would like to sub,” Yeager explained.

She started working regularly as a substitute teacher in October 1973. By the following January, she was a full-fledged teacher at Holy Family.

“I knew there was a teacher who was pregnant and leaving soon. So one morning I walked in and told Sister Eugenia I was interested in a job. She asked me if I wanted one, and I said yes. And that was my interview,” Yeager exclaimed, still excited today by the simplicity of the process.

Yeager’s first teaching contract was finalized by the priest she did her First Communion with, and her band teacher from sixth and seventh grades was still teaching at Holy Family and remembered her.

Fast forward 37 years, and it’s Yeager who is doing the remembering.

“Students from my first class are now 47-years-old. I just found that out tonight when talking to one of my best friends, whose daughter was in my first class,” she said, marveling. “I’m teaching the kids of kids I taught long ago, and it’s neat to see how much they valued their education and want the same for their children.”

While there have been structural changes to the school itself since her days as a Holy Family student, Yeager appreciates how little parental attitudes have changed over the decades.

“We’re in a special situation because parents choose to send their kids here. They want the strong morals and the religious background,” she explained. “We’re teaching kids to be of service in the world of today, and we’re blessed to be able to bring God into it.”

Retirement is definitely not in the cards for Yeager any time soon. “I don’t even think about it,” she said. “I still really enjoy teaching.”

Yeager is also active in the church. She is on the Parish Council, serves as a Eucharistic minister helping to distribute communion during Friday masses and serves as a rector and commentator during Saturday evening masses.