Meet Brother Edward Libbers! Brother Ed was one of that brave group of 26 who enrolled at CC as seniors and comprised the very first graduating class in 1958. The Sisters of the Precious Blood taught at CC at that time. Sister Palmerita, who taught chemistry, was a particular inspiration for Brother Ed. “She possessed great humor and taught a challenging class. I learned much from her and thought, at the time, if I ever become a teacher, I would hope to emulate her fine teaching style. I am forever grateful for her great example and dedication.”
After graduating from CC, Brother Ed enrolled at Purdue University in Chemical Engineering. But following his freshman year, his career took a different turn and his deep faith led him to profess his first vows as a Brother of the Holy Cross in 1961. He studied at the University of Notre Dame, majoring in chemistry. He graduated with a BS in 1963 and began his first year of teaching at St. Joseph High School in South Bend.
“I spent a total of 53 years in the classroom - 45 at Hoban and 8 years at three other Holy Cross High Schools,” said Brother Ed. “Teaching has been the joy of my life.” Brother Ed has taught in schools in Indiana, Illinois, and Texas, but the majority of his time has been spent at Archbishop Hogan High School in Akron, Ohio. Brother Ed retired from teaching three years ago.
Throughout his time as a teacher, Brother Ed won the Sigma Xi Outstanding Educator Award and was featured in Ohio Magazine’s Excellence in Education Recognition Program. He was also named a Central Catholic Knight to Remember in 2006. He has also done extensive post-graduate work including his Masters from Notre Dame in 1970 through an NSF Grant, and studies at the University of Maryland, Fairfield University, Toledo University, Hope College, Illinois Institute of Technology and Roosevelt University.
After retiring from teaching in 2016, Brother now does volunteer work at Regina Health Care Nursing Home. “So I have gone from teaching teenagers to the elderly who are now confined to wheelchairs. It has been a great rewarding experience,” said Brother Ed.
Beside Brother Ed, his younger brothers, Bill and John, are also CC grads as well as his cousins, Kathy and John Schrader.
How did your education at LCSS prepare you for college and your career?
I was very well prepared to go into college. Once at Purdue, I was placed into an advanced chemistry class as a freshman as well as first-year calculus. Altogether, I took 22 credit hours which was a very heavy schedule as most college freshmen had 15 to 18. While Sr. Palmerita was my role model and inspiration to major in chemistry, another outstanding teacher at CC was my English teacher Sr. Cyria. She served as the moderator of Centralight, the school newspaper, and I was one of the co-editors of the publication. My social studies teacher Fr. Woytych was also terrific as was Fr. Kinney.
What did you like most about your experience at LCSS?
I always looked forward to going to school as the atmosphere was welcoming and challenging. I have nothing but fond memories of my senior year at CC and always stop by whenever I am visiting family in Lafayette.
What is your favorite memory from your years at LCSS?
Some of my favorite memories include involvement in a school play, attending the many athletic events, and participating in fundraising activities. The one fundraising activity I remember is a paper drive to raise money for the Senior Prom. For lunch, a group of five or six of us in a truck stopped off for lunch at the newly opened McDonald's on the West Side. It was my first taste of their 15 cent hamburger and not my last.
