Teacher calls himself ‘lucky’ to have had ‘entire professional career’ at Marin Catholic

April 12, 2018
Tom Burke

Tom Lippi told me in an email interview that he has “probably been thinking about becoming a teacher for most of my life.” In just a few weeks, Tom retires after 43 years at Marin Catholic High School, and that doesn’t count the four years he was a student there long ago. Fully from Marin, Tom graduated from St. Rita School, Fairfax in 1965 and Marin Catholic in 1969. He then left his home county to complete undergraduate work in English at the University of San Francisco in 1973 and a graduate degree in English and American Literature at the University of Washington two years later.
 
“I have been a teacher at Marin Catholic since 1975, my entire professional career,” Tom said. “Lucky.”
 
While Tom has filled his share of posts at Marin Catholic “most importantly, I have been a classroom teacher, an English teacher,” he said. “That is really all I have ever wanted to be.”
 
Tom said he “always loved going to school” admitting too that he “was not a perfect student.” His parents, he said, instilled in him “that teachers were doing vitally important work.”
 
As far back as grade school and continuing today Tom has “been making mental notes about those teachers I loved. I was, and I am still, truly inspired by great teachers, and until I pack up and move out I will be learning, and stealing freely, from their good work.”
 
Tom said he has had many models and mentors in the profession noting the best were teachers at Marin Catholic. “Among my best moments: Taking my place alongside those models and mentors, and being welcomed into their company. And then working hard to prove that I was, in fact, worthy. I honor their commitment and discipline and insistence upon excellence, along with the great joy they took in their work. They were, are, scholars, deeply invested and expert in their fields of study, and teachers, passionately devoted to their students, virtuosos at their craft.”
 
Tom said “generous colleagues” have been gracing him with tributes including “kind and funny letters, surprise visits, some of my favorite foods!” during his now countdown to retirement. “It’s kind of like getting to attend your own funeral, but under the best of circumstances. I have been deeply moved by it all,” Tom said.
 
“I had the good fortune of discovering early in my life what I was supposed to do and where I was supposed to do it. I did not settle for this job; I sought it. Allow me to be presumptuous for a moment. I was called to it. I know this. I’m not trying to brag here. In fact, I find the whole idea pretty humbling. It’s been a great joy”
 
 
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: More than 400 Convent & Stuart Hall alumni gathered March 3 to honor Sacred Heart Sister Mary Mardel on her 100th birthday. The party took place in the Mary Mardel, RSCJ,  Chapel at Convent’s Broadway campus named for Sister Mary in 2014. An overflow audience attended by livestream in the school’s Little Theater. “There is so much love in this room that it’s tangible,” Sister Mary told the crowd. Students led singing throughout the celebration. Sister Mary, who now lives at the congregation’s Oakwood Retirement facility in Atherton, entered the Society of the Sacred Heart at age 19. She served at the sisters’ San Francisco schools for more than 50 years and has been called “the heart and soul of Broadway,” the sisters’ said.
 
 
DIFFICULT HARMONIES: St. Mary’s Cathedral Choir will sing April 22, 4 p.m., in honor of Stephen Walsh, cathedral cantor for 25 years who died Jan. 8. Joining the 40-voice ensemble is guest soloist Tom Manguem, who preceded Stephen as cathedral cantor and today sings in Boston. Many will remember Tom as cantor at the papal Mass at Candlestick Park in 1987 where Mercy Sister Suzanne Toolan’s “Jesus Christ, Yesterday, Today and Forever” Mass-setting made its debut. Ash Walker who recently joined the cathedral music team will also sing. “I love to lead the music, to sing the Psalms, to be at the liturgies, to be a part of the team that keeps the liturgy flowing smoothly and effortlessly,” Stephen told me in an interview for Catholic San Francisco last year. He will be missed.
 
 
CURTAIN UP: It was golden tickets for everyone as youngsters from the Salesian Theatre Program, a part of the Salesian Boys and Girls Club, took roles in the well-known “Willy Wonka” at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, San Francisco in March. Mary Powelson directed. Matthew Grandy was music director. The program has been providing theatre arts education since 2006 and Willy Wonka is its 25th production in 12 years, Mary said. The cast featured 50 children from more than 10 neighborhood schools including Sts. Peter and Paul and St. Vincent de Paul schools.
 
 
Email items and electronic pictures – hi-res jpegs – to burket@sfarch.org or mail to Street, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco 94109. Include a follow-up phone number. Street is toll-free. Reach me at (415) 614-5634; email burket@sfarch.org.