High school was something special for the 60 men who showed up for a St. Paddy's Day get-together hosted by the Mount Carmel Alumni Association at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Priory in Encino March 17.

Though their school located at 70th and Hoover streets in south Los Angeles closed in 1976, the alumni remember it fondly and continue to support Carmelite education at the last Carmelite school in the archdiocese: Crespi Carmelite High School for boys in Encino.

"They have such a passion for Carmelite education that they wanted to continue to support it in Los Angeles," said Carmelite Father Tom Schrader, president of Crespi High School. "The alumni from Mount Carmel have come to support the boys here at Crespi and also the priory and the priests, especially the retired priests."

He noted the presence of two Mount Carmel alumni priests attending the St. Paddy's party: Carmelite Fathers John Coleman, MC '69 and Gus Carter, MC '42. Father Carter, besides being a teacher and principal at Mount Carmel, became the first principal of Crespi when it opened in 1959.

"I don't think I'd be doing what I'm doing now if it wasn't for the education I got at Mount Carmel and the direction Father Carter pointed me in," said David Fields, executive director of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Council of Los Angeles and graduate of Mount Carmel's class of 1969.

A parishioner at St. Elizabeth in Altadena who was a longtime St. Vincent de Paul volunteer during his 25-year career at Xerox, Fields recently became head of the non-profit's L.A. Council. Attending a Mount Carmel Alumni Association event for the first time, he said he's learned a lot from his counterpart running the Phoenix Council of the St. Vincent de Paul Society who is a graduate of Crespi.

"There's a brotherhood, a fraternity that exists for [Carmelite graduates] beyond what they experienced in high school," added Father Schrader, citing three parts to the Carmelite charism: prayer, community and social justice. "It's great to see alumni wanting to continue to support the Carmelite charism and traditions."

The alumni support Crespi events, such as last season's football game against Loyola, where "we had a combined honoring of Mount Carmel and Crespi athletes and football players," said Paul Rawate, director of marketing and public relations at Crespi.

"We're starting to see a lot more alumni be interested in the students from parishes where they came from, especially now that Crespi [is drawing] a little bit more from the West L.A. side," added Rawate. Alumni have also established a Mount Carmel Hall of Fame annual event at Crespi where members have come back to talk about their life and how they became successful.

"We tried to identify people who achieved success in their chosen fields, whether it was athletics, law or community service," said Paul Martin, MC '57, who is on Crespi's board of directors. "We're very appreciative of what we learned at Mount Carmel High School."

Martin, along with several alumni, donated toward the cost of re-roofing the priory and refurbishing the chapel damaged in last year's rainstorms. Donated funds also went toward the renovation of the priory kitchen following a leak from a second floor washing machine.

"The Mount Carmel Alumni Foundation has also done a lot of terrific work for inner city grammar schools around MC's location," added Martin. "Many of us have been very interested in the continuation of Carmelite education.

"I got a wonderful education from the Carmelite Fathers," said Ed Fuess, MC '58, who attended the St. Paddy's event with his brother, John MC '60, and 94-year-old father, Ed.

"I had a fine education and made lasting friendships. I had no problems getting through school," said Oscar Pallares, MC '49, who was one of four classmates who went on to receive degrees in pharmacy from USC.

"There's a lot of things I attribute to that education," said Jack Sanguinet, MC '57. "They were building men at that school. We came out pretty solid."