A TRIBUTE TO PAUL LAMMERMEIER

Bob Carroll, St. Xavier ‘76, shares a reflection on the teacher who greatly impacted his life

Among the many dedicated faculty and staff, to whom I am so grateful for my St. Xavier education and experience, Paul Lammermeier is a lifelong example of service to others.

Paul arrived at St. X for my 1974-75 junior year, to launch our Community Service Program – both inside and outside the classroom. I was in his inaugural, and memorable, class that had the first-year challenges of any “start-up” business.

Everything was new, many things were untested, and we enjoyed lots of freedom that year. He placed a lot of trust in us to represent St. X in the community. Fortunately, we were never under the “surveillance” of today’s widespread social media.

We never lacked for assignments of tutoring at nearby elementary schools, working with patients at Drake Hospital (which by coincidence was  during the year that Jack Nicholson starred in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), and many other opportunities that Paul found throughout the city. Interest in the new course certainly benefitted from the chance for us to hop in the car and escape from campus for a period or two. I remember more of our “on the road” experiences, than anything that I can recall from actual community service classes. Paul was probably so busy juggling the fledgling program, that there was minimal time for classroom course work. He likely had no budget for an assistant, or other support, in those initial years.

These were also the years that Pedro Arrupe, SJ as the Father General of the Jesuits introduced his “Men For Others” charge, to the global Jesuit legions.

PERU, 1988

In 1988, Paul Lammermeier left St. X, bound for Lima, Peru to begin the successive founding of Casa Javier, Casa Ignacio and Casa Teresa – homes (similar to the Boys Hope Girls Hope model in Cincinnati) to support and nurture young men and women, many of whom were Peruvian orphans. After more than three decades of Paul’s (and his team’s) tireless service, Associacion Casa Javier is a vital part of the Peruvian community, providing a “home” setting for young men and women, who have been blessed by Paul’s selfless energy, enthusiasm, and love for others. His example to all who are his students and his friends is priceless. He is the community service “booster shot” for those who have seen the fruits of his hard work.

When I am fortunate to see Paul during his annual visits to Cincinnati, I am more humbled now, than I ever would have been in 1974-75, to see his embodiment of Magis – to be more tomorrow than what we are today.