When St. John School bestowed the 1995 Distinguished Graduate Award on Mary M. Eckard, it placed her in the company of a cardinal, a national news commentator and the director of the FBI.
In a ceremony Wednesday, the Westminster school surprised Mrs. Eckard, 79, with the award, which is sponsored by the National Catholic Education Association.
"Basically, we looked for a person who provided either service to the community or to the church," said Patricia M. Brink, principal at St. John.
"Mary believes Catholic education is essential and has affirmed it by her actions. She exemplifies the highest qualities of her education."
Mrs. Eckard, who has spent a lifetime in service to the needy and the elderly, was the ideal candidate for the award, Ms. Brink said.
"Her greatest achievement is as a wife and mother of five," said Ms. Brink. "She made Catholic education a priority."
The award "provides Catholic schools the opportunity to honor their graduates and to honor themselves through their graduates," Robert J. Kealey, executive director for elementary schools at the Washington-based association, wrote in a letter asking for nominations.
Since the association began the awards program in 1991, it has honored several hundred people.
In the Baltimore area this year, six distinguished graduates received the association's certificate and gold pin.
"I will definitely wear the pin," Mrs. Eckard said. "It shows I am in distinguished company."
Among the 1995 honorees are Cardinal William H. Keeler, archbishop of Baltimore and a graduate of Our Lady of the Valley School in Lebanon, Pa., and Tom Russert, commentator on NBC's "Meet the Press." Last year, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh was a recipient.
"By identifying and honoring these graduates, the schools proclaim to their community their achievements," Mr. Kealey wrote.
Alumni must have graduated at least 15 years ago to qualify. About 75 years ago, Mrs. Eckard, then Mary Massicot, and her six siblings attended St. John, the first and still the only parish school in Carroll County.
The building was located on a dusty thoroughfare called Main Street, where the Westminster library stands today and within walking distance of the Pennsylvania Avenue home where Mrs. Eckard was born. Today, she lives just across the street from that house.
The Massicot children were following in their mother's footsteps. She, too, was a St. John student shortly after the school was founded in 1866, as a two-room building for children in the first seven grades.
"My mother went to St. John's for seven years," Mrs. Eckard said. "She got no further education, but she could write such beautiful letters."
In 1929, Mrs. Eckard graduated from the school and three years later received a diploma from St. John High School. The high school closed in 1968, but the elementary school, which moved to Monroe Street about 25 years ago, today has a full enrollment of 340 students in eight grades.
Mrs. Eckard brought several family photos to the assembly at St. John. Many date back more than a century.
Her mother's First Communion picture, taken on the steps of the old church about 125 years ago, shows a group of smiling children surrounding their pastor. In another picture, dated June 23, 1918, her brother, Bernard Massicot, dressed as an altar boy, is standing beside Cardinal James Gibbons.
"Whenever the cardinal came to Westminster, he would ask my brother to serve Mass," she said.
Mrs. Eckard spoke briefly before an assembly of students, parents and faculty and detailed her memories of the early years of their school.
"A Catholic education is wonderful," Mrs. Eckard said.