Meet Mike Hazelbaker! Mike graduated from Central Catholic in 1961. He started school in 1957 when the school was brand new, with some areas still under construction. “It was just interesting to see it literally from the ground up, being built, and the finishing touches being added,” said Mike. “There was still a lot going on when school started. We had to sidestep piles in the halls!”
From his childhood, Mike was always interested in airplanes and flying. He grew up on a farm near Aertz Airport and would spend time there, talking with pilots including Capt. Aretz, who was the owner of the airport and friends with Amelia Earhart. Additionally, Mike’s cousin owned an airplane and would take Mike on rides. By the time Mike was a sophomore in high school, he had purchased an airplane using his own funds and had started flying lessons. Mike had earned his commercial license by the time he was a senior.
After high school, Mike attended Purdue for a couple of semesters before leaving to earn his aviation instrument ratings license. He returned to Purdue and joined their flight program before being accepted as a pilot with the regional Ozark Airlines in St. Louis. Ozark merged with TWA in 1986, which in turn merged with American Airlines in 2001.
“I always enjoyed watching the world go under my wings,” said Mike. “Being an airline captain was very challenging. It’s not quite like everyone perceives it. You’re not on vacation when you travel, but it’s very rewarding. You interact with people, and I felt like I was accomplishing something by getting people to their destinations.”
During his long career, Mike flew all over the continental United States, as well as to Canada, Alaska, Mexico, and the Caribbean. “I felt like I made the entire country and beyond my backyard.”
“Aviation gave me a lot. It gave me the opportunity to see the world while working. But I also traveled a lot, so I missed a lot and had to learn to work around that. While there was a schedule, it was subject to change. I lived with a half-packed suitcase at the end of my bed for 30+ years.”
And while not working, Mike was able to travel and see the world with his three daughters.
Mike retired as a commercial airline captain after 37 years of service in 2002. At that time, pilots were required to retire at age 60. That requirement was changed to age 65 shortly after his retirement. “I like to joke that they waited until I retired before changing the retirement age!”
During Mike’s total years of flying both privately and for commercial airlines, he accumulated approximately 33,000 hours of flight time over 43 years.
Mike still gets together with his former Ozark coworkers regularly, as they have an annual gathering where 300-400 people attend.
How did your education at LCSS prepare you for college and your career?
CC offered standard college prep courses, which was characteristic in that age. This prepared me to go forward at Purdue. More than anything, the main thing that I got from the academics at CC and at St. Mary was a basis to learn how to learn. Also, the discipline of knowing deadlines and the self-discipline to be able to keep moving forward.
CC offered standard college prep courses, which was characteristic in that age. This prepared me to go forward at Purdue. More than anything, the main thing that I got from the academics at CC and at St. Mary was a basis to learn how to learn. Also, the discipline of knowing deadlines and the self-discipline to be able to keep moving forward.
How did LCSS help to shape your faith?
The schools gave me a moral compass. What more can you ask for from any institute or teachers? You learned respect for the Eucharist and for the Mass. It instilled in us what the Mass really was. I remember the Sisters putting paper bags over all the drinking fountains to help the students to remember to fast before Mass. It was really a different culture after Vatican II.
What did you like most about your experience at LCSS?
Our class - the Class of 1961 - was the first class to go all four years at Central Catholic. Also, as incoming freshmen, numerically, we outnumbered the upperclassmen by far. Our class had several unique responsibilities and opportunities. We were the class who chose the school mascot (Knights), picked the school colors (blue and white), named the yearbook (Lance) and the newspaper (Centralight), and wrote the school Fight Song (Onward Central Catholic).
Also, because the school was new and all the upperclassmen were transfer students, the only kids who were eligible to play on varsity were freshmen. I remember when CC played our big rival Jeff. Though we didn’t win, at one point during the game, they came within 3 points of Jeff. That’s pretty good for a freshman team against upperclassmen! One of my classmates who was on the team was Joe Schrader. He was outstanding. Joe had the ball and was halfway down the court and the buzzer was about to go off. He stopped, gave it a pitch. It went swish. It was like divine guidance, even though it wasn’t enough to win the game. It was almost like the winning throw, but it wasn’t. It was a dramatic thing.
Describe your favorite memories of LCSS.
- I remember going up in an airplane with classmates Ron Steill and Julie Goetz to take an aerial photo of Central Catholic.
- I skipped school one day and decided to buzz the school. The school was brand new and there were no trees. I flew the plane low to the ground toward Central Catholic, pulling up at the last minute. Knowing I wasn’t in class that day, Sister Anna Rita knew it was me and had called the airport before I returned and landed.
- We had some neat field trips going to Chicago to the Museum and Science and Industry. Our class also held our graduation party at Turkey Run State Park. I flew down to the park with Joe Halsmer and Ron Steill, a couple of my classmates.
- John F. Kennedy came to Lafayette as a presidential candidate. A lot of the kids went to the banquet that night. We all shook his hand and got his autograph. I still have that autograph somewhere buried in a tub. That’s a pretty neat memory.
- The proms were always a lot of fun. We dated girls who were juniors, so we were able to go to prom as freshmen.
Anything else you would like to mention?
I remember all my teachers. There were some really neat personalities among the teachers. Fr. Kinney was the first principal of CC, and then Fr. Lizza was the principal my senior year. I also remember Fr. Zimmer and Fr. Grever. I enjoyed having John Eberle as a teacher. He was a very quality kind of person. I had him for geography and PE. He told us stories about being in the military during WWII and then in the occupation troops. It was neat how he could wander into that.
I remember all my teachers. There were some really neat personalities among the teachers. Fr. Kinney was the first principal of CC, and then Fr. Lizza was the principal my senior year. I also remember Fr. Zimmer and Fr. Grever. I enjoyed having John Eberle as a teacher. He was a very quality kind of person. I had him for geography and PE. He told us stories about being in the military during WWII and then in the occupation troops. It was neat how he could wander into that.
Sr. Madeleine was my typing teacher. She was part of the Sisters of the Precious Blood from Dayton, Ohio. I never ended up being very good at typing. But for some reason, when typing, my arms would raise up like airplane arms. Since my mother was the school nurse and was at CC often, Sr. Madeleine told my mother, “Mike will never be a proficient typer. I guess he thinks he’s in an airplane.” And I did become an airline captain!
Personally, I enjoyed biology class and Sr. Palmarita. She really had a spectacular way to teach an interesting class. I remember one time, I brought in a 100-egg incubator. We had to rotate the eggs and water them, which I did in the mornings and afternoons during the school week. And then on weekends, Sr. Palmarita would go over to the school and do it. I don’t remember how many we hatched, but it was a good number.
