Monday, February 07, 2000

St. X: A cycle of legacies

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Reilly family stays faithful to Finneytown school

BY JEFF CARLTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Reillys: (front) Kevin Jr., Will, Gerry, Tom, Matthew, Dan, Tommy; (back) Kevin, Brendan, Eugene, Gerry, Tim and Pat. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        When Thomas and Agnes Reilly moved to Cincinnati in 1955, they were determined to provide the best education possible for their son Tom.

        Procter & Gamble colleagues all told Mr. Reilly that St. Xavier High School was the best place.

        Tom went. So did Jim. And Mike. And Tim. And Dan. And Gerry. And Kevin. And Eugene.

        “All your peers are doing all their work, so you do it too,” the elder Mr. Reilly said. “Working hard and getting good grades becomes the accepted thing to do rather than the oddball thing.”

        Today, they form one of the largest legacy families in recent memory at St. X, the private, all-male Catholic school in Finneytown.

ABOUT ST. XAVIER

• Address: 600 N. Bend Road, Finneytown.   • Founded: 1831   • Number of students: 1,400.   • Tuition this year: $5,450   • Tuition next year: $6,000.

        Legacies — students whose family members preceded them — represent two-thirds of the eighth-graders who will enter St. X as freshman this fall, said Dick Murphy, St. X's director of admissions.

        Predominance of legacies represents the St. X preference for a geographically diverse student body rather than one drawn from the same feeder schools every year.

        It also makes admissions decisions easier.

        “We depend on legacies,” Mr. Murphy said. “We say, "Now here's a family we can count on.' We do not turn away a legacy kid unless we do not think he can be successful.”

        From 1968 to 1983, St. X could depend on the eight Reilly brothers.

        All eight became walking ads for the prep school. Six are physicians, one is chief executive officer of a hospital in Reidsville, Ga., and one a principal of St. Ignatius grade school in Monfort Heights.

        “Raising the bar high” with its admission test weeds out less capable applicants. After that, Advanced Placement classes and a perpetually renewed reputation for excellence helps graduates win acceptance from top universities, Mr. Murphy said.

        The Reillys agreed.

        “Once you got through these doors, the rest of the doors were open,” said Reilly brother No. 7, Kevin, an orthopedic surgeon. “If you have talent and desire and go to some high schools, you might make it. If you have talent and desire and you come here, you will make it.”

        Then there is the locally famous network among alumni.

        St. X plans several alumni events each year, including a sports stag Tuesday that attracted several hun dred graduates.

        “I'll be called in to assist on a surgery and the doctor will be from St. X, the med student will be from St. X and the resident will be from St. X,” said Reilly brother No. 6, Gerry, an obstetrician and gynecologist. “Time and time again, I'll look around the operating room and the majority of people in there went to St X.”

        That sense of belonging literally knows no bounds. Last fall, when St. X played Elder, the West Side Catholic powerhouse, the competition embroiled Hamilton County Commissioners Tom Neyer (St. X '84) and Bob Bedinghaus (Elder '77).

        Whoever's school lost would wear the winner's jersey to work the next Monday. Elder lost the game and Mr. Bedinghaus lost his bet.

        The next Reilly generation has entered St. X. Patrick, the son of Tim (Reilly brother No. 4), is a sophomore. Mary Kate Reilly, Tim's daughter and the oldest of the 16 Reilly granddaughters who live in the area, will attend St. Ursula Academy in Walnut Hills as a freshman this fall.

        Other grandsons aren't old enough for high school.

        But ask their fathers and grandfather which boys will attend St. X and they respond in unison, “All of them.”

       

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