Stoops, Minchin receive Mooney alumni awards

Staff report

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Cardinal Mooney High School Alumni Association presented its 2012 Distinguished Alumni Awards at a prayer service earlier this week.

The event in the school auditorium was followed by a luncheon for the recipients and their guests. This year’s recipients are Sister M. Kathleen Minchin, a 1961 graduate of Cardinal Mooney, and Bob Stoops, who graduated from Mooney in 1978.

The Distinguished Alumni Awards are presented annually. Criterion requires that the recipient “demonstrate a continuing concern and dedication for others by embracing the Cardinal Mooney motto of Sanctity, Scholarship and Discipline.”

Sister Kathleen entered Mooney in 1957 from St. Nicholas School in Struthers. She is the daughter of the late Grace and Richard Minchin and the first of their three children to attend Mooney. Her brother, Michael Minchin, graduated in 1966, and her sister, Eileen (Minchin) Nelson, is a 1968 graduate.

Sister Kathleen entered the Ursuline Sisters in the fall after her high-school graduation, and will celebrate her 50th anniversary as an Ursuline Sister this summer. She received a bachelor of science degree in education from Youngstown State University and a master of arts degree in pastoral theology from St. Mary-of-the-Woods.

She also has completed advanced study in Scripture, Christian spirituality and school psychology. She has a certificate in gerontology and completed clinical pastoral education for pastoral care work. Sister Kathleen served as an elementary-school teacher in various diocesan schools for 10 years and taught in and directed CCD programs. She ministered in the Diocesan House of Prayer for five years and worked in pastoral care at St. Elizabeth Hospital for 13 years.

It was while working at St. E’s that Sister Kathleen became concerned about the discrimination and despair of people living with HIV/AIDS. In 1992, her final year at the hospital, she and three other Ursuline sisters began what would eventually become the Ursuline sisters HIV/AIDS ministry. Sr. Kathleen has served as executive director since its founding.

The ministry now consists of social services such as a food pantry, a congregate meal, a nonfood pantry and pastoral care; a children’s program that includes tutoring, mentoring and life skills; and a clinic provides pediatric and adult HIV health care and support services. The ministry provides services to nearly 400 children and adults each year.

Sister Kathleen and the ministry have been recognized locally by the Ohio Department of Health, and by the federal department of Health and Human Services for their work in HIV care.

Stoops entered Mooney in 1974 from St. Dominic’s grade school. He is one of six children of Dee and Ron Stoops Sr. to attend Cardinal Mooney High School where his father served as a social studies and physical-education teacher and coach.

His success as an athlete at Cardinal Money earned him numerous honors and an athletic scholarship to the University of Iowa where he was a four-year starter and “All-Big 10” selection. He began his coaching career as a volunteer coach and graduate assistant for the Hawkeyes.

After five years at Iowa, he coached at Kent State University for one season and then moved on to Kansas State in 1989. He was part of a staff that catapulted Kansas State into national prominence; he joined Steve Spurrier’s staff at Florida in 1996. That same year, with Stoops as their defensive coordinator, the Gators won the national championship.

After three years at Florida, he took over as the head coach at the University of Oklahoma, where he has remained for 14 years.

His squad won the national championship in 2000 and is annually ranked among the premier collegiate Division I football programs. He has coached two Heisman Trophy winners and compiled a 139-34 coaching record.

Stoops’ celebrity as an athlete and a coach is more than matched by his generosity with his time, talent and resources for a variety of charitable endeavors. He is particularly proud of the Bob Stoops Foundation that he founded to aid ill and disadvantaged children in Norman and Oklahoma City.

Despite the acclaim that he has earned on the gridiron, Stoops has never forgotten his roots in Youngstown and particularly at Cardinal Mooney. He was one of the organizers of the Ron Stoops Scholarship Fund, which was created to honor his father’s legendary contributions to Cardinal Mooney as a teacher and coach.

He has participated in the banquet created to fund scholarships that benefit all Cardinal Mooney students. He also took a leadership role in the capital campaign designed to improve the school’s athletic facilities. Stoops frequently attends the summer bocce tournament, another school benefit, and instructs at the summer camp, which attracts nearly 300 grade-school athletes every year. It was through his personal efforts that the school has a turf field that is used by a wide range of teams throughout the year.

Stoops and his wife, Carol, are the parents of three children: daughter, Mackenzie, and twin sons, Drake and Isaac. They live in Norman, Okla.

“Sister Kathleen and Bob Stoops both reflect the ideals of Cardinal Mooney in all that they have undertaken,” Mooney Principal John Young said. “Sister Kathleen has dedicated her life to God, education and the AIDS ministry. She gives tirelessly to provide for those often overlooked and ignored by society.

“Coach Stoops, despite his celebrity and success, always finds time to reach out to benefit those in need and particularly works to benefit the students of Cardinal Mooney,” Young said. “Both Sister Kathleen and Bob Stoops have been positive role models for their families, the students of Cardinal Mooney and the entire community. We are proud to name them as our Distinguished Alumni for 2012.”

This is the 16th year that the Distinguished Alumni Awards have been presented by the Association. The awards, initiated in 1997, were presented to Denise DeBartolo York and Atty. Michael Morley. Subsequent recipients have included Carole Haus Halloran, Dr. M. Frank Beck, Susan Doyle Trewella, David Handel, Dale Gresko, Mary Beth Gordon Gresko, Catherine Wigley, George Farris, Ed Farris, John Farris, Sister Patricia McNicholas, D. Joseph Fleming, Diana Babnich Colaianni, Father Stephen Popovich, Terry Reardon, Kathy Coppola Villella, Dr. Elena Rossi, Dr. John Babyak, Chrysann Mitzel, John Gocala, Nancy Varley, Wallace Dunne, Frank Courtney, Marilyn Daltorio, Sister Bernadine Janci and Ed Reese.

Last year’s honorees were Debbie Schiavone and Dr. Tom Boniface.