The Early Years of Cathedral Preparatory School 1921-1927

Abstract

Cathedral Preparatory School for Boys, located in Erie, Pennsylvania, was established in the fall of 1921 through the efforts of Bishop John Mark Gannon and the Reverend Joseph J. Wehrle. Since its humble origins in the hastily remodeled basement of St. Peter’s Cathedral, the school has developed into a thriving institution with a reputation for scholastic and athletic excellence and has, from its founding, seen a significant portion of its alumni become priests and professional men who have contributed greatly to their fields of endeavor, community, and country. By 1944, for instance, twenty graduating classes had produced fifty priests, twenty-five seminarians, six spiritual brothers, seventeen lawyers, eleven doctors, nine journalists, twenty-two educators, twenty-seven engineers and technicians, and fourteen career military officers.