Final details have been announced or the reception tonight at Marian Catholic High School in Hometown, honoring retired Principal John P. Malarkey. Gifts so far for this initiative have come from over 400 alumni, parents, grandparents, parishes and friends of Marian now totaling over $140,000.

The event will formalize an announcement made earlier this school year by Father Allen Hoffa, Head of School at Marian, in naming of the school’s gymnasium, the John P. “Jack” Malarkey Gymnasium.

The event Friday is an extraordinary show of respect for Jack Malarkey in securing financial support for the gymnasium renovations currently underway (including the total removal and replacement of the original bleachers) and the ability for future students to receive a Catholic and Marian education. The goal of this initiative is to raise at least $150,000 for the gymnasium renovation and to establish a full-endowed scholarship in the name of Jack and his wife, Jane.

The program will include speakers from all four of the decades when Jack Malarkey was at Marian. John Quashnoc, ‘66, representing the classes of the 1960s will speak about “Jack Malarkey as an Educator and Coach;” Bruce Shickora, ’76, representing the classes of the 1970s, will speak about “Jack Malarkey as a Husband and Father;” Sister Rose Mulligan, IHM, ’84, representing the classes of the 1980s, will speak about “Jack Malarkey as a Role Model: and Father Gene Ritz, J.C.L. ’00, Chancellor for the Diocese of Allentown and representing the classes of the 1990s and 2000s, will speak about “Jack Malarkey as a Catholic Leader.”

The speaking part of the evening will be broadcast live for alumni, parents and friends all over the country and the world on the school’s Facebook page starting at 7:45. In addition, the 84-page commemorative program will be distributed to all in attendance and also posted on the school’s website on Friday night, including a two-page centerfold timeline with photographs of Malarkey’s life and his 37 years working at Marian.

Congratulatory messages for Malarkey are pouring in from all over the country, including one from Rev. John Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame.

“I recently learned of the reception honoring your life’s work in service to Marian Catholic High School and I would like to congratulate you and thank you for playing such a vital role in education – in the classroom, on the courts, fields, and track – of so many students over the last 60 years. As you may know, we challenge our students to graduate from the University of Notre Dame and ‘be a force of good in the world.’ It is clear to me through your extensive work as a teacher, administrator, coach and volunteer for the church that you, perhaps unknowingly, answered that calling on a daily basis. May God bless you and all those dear to you,” Father Jenkins wrote to Malarkey.

The school is asking for the full cooperation of the attendees on Friday night to follow the guidance of the CDC, state and local public health officials with regards to the appropriate health and safety protocols around the COVID-19 virus.

More information about the reception, The Celebration of a Living Legend, can be found at https://www.mariancatholichs.org/post/malarkey-celebration, or by contacting Kristine Evina, Director of Advancement at Marian Catholic High School at 570-467-3335, ext. 115 or at kevina@mariancatholichs.org.

Gifts to this initiative will continue to be accepted in the days and weeks following the event on Friday night honoring Jack Malarkey by sending to Marian Catholic High School, 166 Marian Avenue, Tamaqua, PA 18252, Attention: The Celebration of a Living Legend, or by visiting the school’s website.