Can you remember where you were in September of 1959? Prici Mahaffey was outside the front doors of a brand-new school in Farmers Branch called Mary Immaculate School. She was nervous and excited about the beginning of a new year at a new school, but didn’t realize that she was taking her first steps into what would become six decades of home for her and her family. Since then, all of her children and two of her grandchildren (see the photo above) have attended with a third beginning this coming August.
Prici attended MIS from 1959 through 1963. She came back as a parent in the 1980s and today we see her just about every day at EDP, substituting and filling in wherever she is needed. “I have spent many years walking the halls - from temporary buildings to the beautiful school we have now,” she said. “I love the feeling of family at Mary Immaculate and the traditions such as May Crowning, Field Day and more.”
Prici served as part of the Ladies Auxiliary / PTC from the 1980s through the early 2000s. The Ladies Auxiliary served in the capacity that the PTC serves today.
One of her favorite memories was moving from the temporary buildings (housed behind the school near the Junior High Courtyard) into permanent classrooms. And her silliest memory was moving all all their desks into the closet every weekend to make room for Masses. At that time, Mass took place in what is now the gym (you can still see the stained glass windows) and storage is the space now used for PE offices.
After graduation and high school, she met and married Corky. They had six children who attended MIS from 1981-2002.
This is an old and grainy photo, but it is Corky’s favorite memory - delivering his last tuition check to Office Manager Helen Dahlvig!
Corky wasn’t an MIS student but he has been involved at the church and school for decades. “I worked at the Post Office and had people ask why I spent so much on grade school tuition instead of saving for college,” he said. “I told them it was the best investment I ever made, though my favorite memory was delivering that last tuition check!”
The MIS legacy is one that the Mahaffeys are proud of. “Passing our faith on to our children and now our grandchildren through this parish and school is our greatest joy,” they said.
Prici and Corky have recently taken on a new MIS adventure - the MIS Grandparents’ Club! This club will engage grandparents by encouraging them to play a growing role at the school through prayer, coaching/cheering at athletic events, and volunteering regularly at the school. All current and former grandparents are invited and encouraged to participate. Details will be shared soon.
******************
Please join us in praying for Grandparents. This prayer was composed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. We pray for the Mahaffeys and all MIS current, former and future grandparents:
Lord Jesus, you were born of the Virgin Mary, the daughter of Saints Joachim and Anne. Look with love on grandparents the world over. Protect them! They are a source of enrichment for families, the Church and all of society. Support them! As they grow older, may they continue to be for their families strong pillars of Gospel faith, guardians of noble domestic ideals, living treasuries of sound religious traditions. Make them teachers of wisdom and courage, that they may pass on to future generations the fruits of their mature human and spiritual experience.
Lord Jesus, help families and society to value the presence and roles of grandparents. May they never be ignored or excluded, but always encounter respect and love. Help them to live serenely and to feel welcomed in all the years of life which you give them. Mary, Mother of all the living, keep grandparents constantly in your care, accompany them on their earthly pilgrimage and by your prayers, grant that all families may one day be reunited in our heavenly homeland, where you await all humanity for the great embrace of life without end. Amen!