Donor Stories

Thad Certainly Embodies an "Active" Alumnus

During high school and as a DePaul undergrad, Thad Kochanny worked at McMaster-Carr Supply Co, a job Brother John "C" [Chrysostom] got for him. Next, he served three years in the Army Security Agency in Massachusetts. Thad worked in a Signal Corps school there and lost his hearing. Upon his discharge n 1961, he started an 18-year career with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Regulatory Enforcement Division. At the same time, he entered the "190 MBA program" at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, graduating in 1966 with an MBA in Finance.

Working for the ATF, Thad had a wide variety of duties including determining/collecting liquor and tobacco taxes, and inspecting industrial plants, hospitals and liquor businesses for regulatory compliance. Always an innovator, Thad created the first book of state and local gun laws to be used by gun dealers and helped form the first ATF union for office workers, a "local" of the National Treasury Employees Union. Thad was employed with ATF for 18 years.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation hired Thad as a bank examiner. He worked there for 10 years until retiring at age 55. Thad visited banks to look at their operation, management and asset quality (loans they made). When Thad retired he was President of National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 242.

In retirement Thad discovered player pianos. He currently has two pianos and more than 1,500 music rolls. He belongs to Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors Association, and has contributed pieces on the evolution of music boxes and player pianos to their web site.

Looking back, Thad's fondest memory while attending Saint Patrick Academy was the experience of growing up with boys from different walks of life. "We were blue collar kids from low income homes, middle class suburbanites, and boys from 'The Home,' an orphanage just west of Des Plaines and Adams. We were only about 450 students but a fair economic cross section. Christian Brothers worked with us to make us succeed. 'Sink or Swim' was never a teaching method then."

Thad wants today's students to have an ever better and improving toolbox of skills, the same Catholic values and confidence he received. His high school education allowed him to go on to college and graduate school and be successful in both his work and personal life. Thad recognizes today's needs and says, "Despite everyone's best effort, our alumni are still by and large sitting on our wallets. I don't want to sit on mine any longer! I find that the more I give away, the more I have to give away." Thad's been retired for 15 years. This past year his taxable income was twice his best salaried year. Thad feels that the more one has, the greater one's obligation to share it.

Thad feels that the greatest challenge St. Pat's faces is a lack of alumni support for the school. "Seems that after we graduate, we scatter, never to look back until 25 or 50 years have passed. Older alumni should consider that one or two thousand dollars annually for student tuition support is less than car insurance, a lot less than real estate taxes, and less than 1/6 the annual cost for a single student. We need to become aware of the precious, financially fragile nature of what today's Saint Patrick students receive and the diminishing ability of many families to pay for all of it. It's really a challenge for the alumni. The current alumni participation rate of only 9% needs to be substantially raised if Saint Patrick High School is to have a long-term future. The few who now participate just aren't enough."

Thad certainly embodies an "active" alumnus. He's attended concerts, plays, Academy luncheons and reunions, even a circus at the new Performing Arts Center, and annually supports our financial assistance program. "There's a lot of talent, great entertainment and the chance to experience today's Saint Patrick. It's a 120-mile round trip from Ingleside, but well worth it to me. The downside is seeing too many empty seats at many events. The students and teachers create excellent productions and, for whatever reason, they don't play to packed houses of alumni. Some are too busy to have fun. Others may have good reasons for not supporting the shows. For me, it's great entertainment on a budget. I hope many more will avail themselves of offerings targeted to alumni and come to the same conclusion."