At the Wednesday Night Jug at Thanksgiving 2010, I ran into Chip (Charles J.) Strowhouer '71. I was telling him about the Villiger Archives program, and he offered to donate some treasures from his dad, William J. Strowhouer '40: a jacket, a sweater, and a hat. Bill grew up in Drexel Hill and attended St. Andrew's School before arriving at the Prep in September 1936, where he was active in Sodality, intramurals, and track. On the track team, Bill was a reliable sprinter, and placed consistently in the 100 and 220 yard dashes. I have included scans of two pages from the 1940 Chronicle: his senior portrait and the track team's page on which Bill appears twice. The third image is Bill's varsity sweater with his track chenille. Hard to believe that this sweater is over 70 years old! The care with which Bill preserved his sweater is just one of the ways he showed his fondness for his time at St. Joe's. He would send three sons to his dear alma mater: William '65, Chip '71, and Theodore '73. Chip considered his time at the Prep to be the best experience of his life, so he sent his son Jon (Charles Jonathan) as a member of the Class of 2002.
Chip also sent along his dad's Prep warm-up jacket, and the PREP bucket hat you see in the photo with his sweater. The sweater and hat are currently displayed in the archive case in the 'link' (see photo) where hundreds pass to and from Jesuit Hall every day. And I can't tell you how many students have asked about reproducing Bill's hat and selling them in the Spirit Shop!
If you have any vintage Prep items that you would like to donate to the permanent collection of the Villiger Archives, please get in touch. And if you find yourself near 17th and Girard and want to see some of the items from our school's grand history, please stop by.
