As gifts of condolences, love, and fond memories filled St. Anne of the Sunset Church to celebrate the life of Bob Drucker ’58, the SI Class of 1958 was prepared with a beautiful offering to their late friend.

For more than a decade, Mike Carroll ’58 has specially ordered custom wreaths to honor classmates who have passed away. 天上的白玫瑰映衬着红色花朵勾勒出的蓝色SI块，这些安排大胆地展示了班级对母校和彼此的关心。

Carroll, the 2011 Christ the King recipient, began providing wreaths in 2010, recognizing the true beginning of this tradition after his friend and classmate, John Meany ’58, passed away in 2017.

Meany and Carroll spent their lives in each other’s orbit — from attending St. Agnes grammar school to purchasing homes in San Carlos and sending their children to the same grammar school, unbeknownst to each other.

Knowing many of his classmates would attend Meany’s funeral, Carroll ordered the wreath to honor the connection that brought all of these men together, thus starting a new tradition that commemorates life as the soul transitions.

“I felt this was something I wanted to do to show my love and support to my classmates,” Carroll said.

对卡罗尔来说，圣依纳爵是他的家，社区是他的家人。

“You would have to know my background to understand why I feel the way I do about SI and my classmates. 在我3岁的时候，我的父母离婚了，我的母亲和我的妹妹搬到了圣地亚哥，从此离开了我的生活。 My father went into the Navy for several years and I ended up in a foster home in Palo Alto, then at a boarding school in Berkeley, and eventually ending up living with my grandmother, who was single and a tough woman, and was hard on me.”

Carroll expected to enroll at Sacred Heart — his father had attended the school, both his parents were Irish, and he was born on St. Patrick’s Day. 感觉他命中注定要穿绿色衣服，但他对社区的渴望和热爱迫使他参加了圣艾格尼丝学院的入学考试，因为他的所有同学都透露他们将在斯坦扬街上的耶稣会学院上学。

他和1958届毕业生一起度过了一段美好的时光，赢得了冠军，建立了深厚的友谊，他们的恶作剧让他们庆幸自己错过了照相手机革命。 And while post-graduation life takes alums in many different ways, Carroll has made an effort to bring everyone back together every year at his annual St. Patrick’s Day luncheon, another tradition that has strengthened the bonds between them.

Carroll recalled that five classmates came to the first luncheon in 1980 to eat at the Washington Square Bar and Grill, bar hop several Irish pubs, and enjoy each other’s company. 在开学午宴上玩得很开心之后，第二年，卡罗尔又邀请了10位同学。 在又一次精彩的郊游之后，他决定邀请全班74人一起来，建立了一个新的习俗，这个习俗也像他们一样，随着时间的推移而发生了变化。

除了社会成就之外，1958届的学生们还利用午餐会筹集资金，这样野猫队的后代就有机会和他们一样建立友谊，创造回忆。

“So far, the Class of 1958 has funded three scholarships and also the Pat Malley Press Box,” Carroll proudly shared. “At a lunch about seven years ago, I was talking about our scholarships, and I gave as an example a young boy I knew from church who had passed the entrance exam but whose parents couldn’t afford the fees. 几天后，我从学校听说，我们班的一个同学匿名捐出了整个四年的学费。 That is the spirit of the Class of 1958.”

几十年来，这样的聚会平均有55到65名同学参加。 卡罗尔回忆说，在2008年左右，由于一些同学开始去世，人数下降到40人左右。 他注意到，一些妻子已经开始了自己的聚会，在午餐结束后与丈夫见面之前，她们彼此分享了一顿饭。 As the men continued to pass away, the women’s numbers grew to more than a dozen in what became an unexpected-but-welcome new community for wives and widows whose lives have become intertwined due to their husbands’ love of SI.

大约五年前，卡罗尔再次改变了午餐。 他邀请所有的同学，他们的妻子和寡妇一起吃饭。 他预计将有44位朋友、24位同学和20位重要的人参加即将于3月举行的聚会。

Carroll, who turns 85 this St. Patrick’s Day, guesses he won’t be hosting these luncheons much longer. He says they are getting harder as he is “slowing down like everyone else.”

尽管如此，这个班级培养的亲密关系激励着他们继续聚在一起，互相送花，无论是在生中还是死中。

“The main thing is just being together. The memories are wonderful and we treat each other the same regardless of one’s successes or failures in life. 我们真的很关心对方。 We feel very proud to have attended SI and received a great education, love, and an understanding of the Jesuit teachings on the love of God and our fellow man.”