Caption: Joe and Kristen Mahoney and their four children.
By Melissa Williams Brown
Contributing Writer
GREENSBURG — The Mahoney family’s roots run deep at Aquinas Academy.
Joe Mahoney, 31, is a proud 2005 graduate of Aquinas Academy. His mother, Kate Mahoney, has taught fourth grade at the school since the mid-1990s and in the Diocese of Greensburg for nearly 35 years. His father, Dan Mahoney, is athletic director at Greensburg Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School, and was principal at the former St. Bruno, Greensburg, and Sacred Heart, Jeannette, schools, Aquinas Academy and Greensburg Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School.
The family tradition continues for Joe Mahoney and his wife, Kristen Mahoney, and their four children. Rowen, 8, is a second-grader at Aquinas Academy; Polly, 7, is a first-grader; Jack, 5, will go to kindergarten in 2022; and Archie, 3, will have to wait a few years to follow in his family’s footsteps.
He is still close with classmates from kindergarten, including Brianna Appleby and Adam Palcic, who are his youngest son’s godparents.
Mahoney said he can’t imagine sending his children anywhere else.
He credits his Aquinas Academy teachers for tapping into a knack for math and sciences and pointing him in the right career direction.
Mahoney said he loves his job with Chevron Corp. but doesn’t like being away from his family. He is currently working off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif. He works two weeks on site and two weeks from home.
The family attends Our Lady of Grace Parish in Greensburg.
Mahoney said there is “just something” about Aquinas Academy.
“Your kids are going to school with great families in an intimate setting where everyone knows everyone. I’m proud to be a product of Catholic education,” he said.
Like Mahoney, Mary Stunja Revers, a 2004 Aquinas Academy graduate, keeps in touch with former classmates. She said the school, where the teachers all knew students’ names and families, gave her lifetime friends.
Growing up, Revers took care of her grandmother, who was an amputee. She knew early on that she wanted to work in the medical field and give back and continue helping others.
Revers is an emergency medicine physician assistant for Mon Health in Morgantown, W.Va., and Excela Health hospitals in Westmoreland County.
Revers met her husband, Kasimir Alan Revers Sr., when they were students at GCC. They have one son, Kasimir Alan Jr. (K.J.). They are parishioners of Our Lady of Grace Parish, Greensburg.
“We were taught strong, moral values. The teachers instilled good behavior and taught us to do the right thing, along with instilling strong religious beliefs. They taught us to open the door for others,” Revers said. “What we were taught applies to our lives going forward.”
Aquinas Academy graduate Brad Poole, a Pennsylvania State Police corporal and 2005 GCC graduate, said his Catholic upbringing comes into play every day. His mother, Kathy Poole, was his fifth-grade math and science teacher at Aquinas Academy, where she still teaches.
What he’s seen in the past 11 years as a trooper, crash reconstructionist, patrol supervisor and corporal has been at times overwhelming. He never knows what to expect; every day is different. He’s investigated 80 fatal crashes.
His said he carries his strong
Catholic faith with him daily.
“I think my faith background has helped me in some bad situations and deal with certain circumstances on the job,” Poole said.
He and his wife, Samantha, have a son, Baker, 2, and a daughter, Evelyn, 8 months. They are parishioners of Church of the Resurrection Parish, Clymer.
Aquinas Academy Principal Kelly Watkins said many alumni bring their own children back to share the wonderful experiences and because of the school’s tradition of academic excellence.
“Alumni are extremely important to our school because it is their wonderful memories and the strong religious and academic foundations they received here which spread into the community and encourage others to enroll,” she said.