We unite graduates through a shared legacy of faith, service, and excellence. Committed to lasting connection and meaningful engagement, we support the mission of Notre Dame schools and uphold the spirit that binds our alumni community.
About Us
We unite graduates through a shared legacy of faith, service, and excellence. Committed to lasting connection and meaningful engagement, we support the mission of Notre Dame schools and uphold the spirit that binds our alumni community.
Our Story
Our association is thirty-two years old this year! The famed Notre Dame Spirit we all cherish is alive and well. Thanks to our alumni association that fanned the flame of friendship and strengthened it through the years. This is a testament to the special bond, so enduring and endearing, among childhood friends who grew up in our beloved hometown of General Santos City, Philippines and attended a school we fondly call Notre Dame.
It was in June 1993 when Notre Dame of General Santos City Alumni Association USA (NDGSCAA) was born. Thirty-eight pioneering alumni and their family gathered at Marriott Hotel in downtown San Diego for two days.
The founding members of our Alumni Association could not have envisioned that thirty years later, they’d still feel that same enthusiasm they first enjoyed meeting with fellow alumni at least once every two years. The stated goal then was “to foster closer ties among alumni residing in the US” and “to provide support to its members”.
The members voted for the venue for the next reunion that afforded them a chance to travel to places they have never been. Starting small, it has grown since into a biennial reunion held in various cities of the US, Canada, and the Philippines – San Diego, Las Vegas, San Francisco, New Jersey/New York, Los Angeles, Orlando, Vancouver (Canada), Virginia/DC, General Santos City, San Antonio, and Seattle. This year, Rhode Island is the state host.
The original list of activities -tour, election of officers and Gala- has expanded into a four-day event adding a welcome party, a mass and picnic. It even extends into a weeklong cruise for some. From 82 attendees in 1993, it has become international with an average of 200-300 attendees coming from many US States, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Asian Pacific, the Philippines, etc.
The old guards who were forty something then, are now slowly but surely handing over the baton to the younger generation. The same Notre Dame Spirit that buoyed them to organize NDGSCAA in 1993 is guiding the younger generation to take over the helm, sail on, and steer the organization for the next thirty years and beyond. In 2024, we officially renamed the association as the Notre Dame Schools of General Santos City Alumni Association International Inc. or Notre Dame GSC. With the new set of officers, Notre Dame GSC is in good hands.
Thank you founding members and our mentors who stood by us. God bless Notre Dame! God bless Notre Dame GSC. /Prima G. Hower, Past President
The Founding Members
Alejo, Zenaida Kinjiyo +
Boloico, Angel
Cuenco, Sol Santos
Dantoin, Dorie Arradaza
Divinagracia, Elmar +
Esma, Celia Parica +
Eugenio, Florita Paredes
Ferrariz, Bing
Fike, Imelda Surmillon
Gammon, Lanie Zerrudo
Gonzalez, Elena Tingzon
Grimm, Puring Soto +
Henn, Alice Rivera +
Henares, Art
Hingco, Gerry
Hower, Prima Guipo
Hoyumpa Jr., Anastacio
Larsen, Concepcion Figuera +
Laughlin, Corazon Martinez
Lozano, Bing
Lozano, Eddie
Lozano, Tessie
O’Riley, Raquel Fernandez
Palacios, Eugenio +
Palacios, Chic +
Palacios, John Lloyd
Palacios, Patrick Eugene
Parker, Maria Lourdes Surmillon
Pedrena, Fel Akol
Porter, Theresa Surmillon
Rosas, Josefina Figuera +
Soriano, Eduardo
Soto, Heidi Villanueva
Soto, Rod
Tizon, Josie Ferrariz
Victa, Shirley Zolina
Wallace, Lourdes Murillo +
Zamzam, Minda Hingco
REUNION…. A BRIDGE OVER TIME
by Prima Guipo Hower
THE YEAR WAS 1947.
Fr. Joseph Milford, OMI, was sent by his Superiors to a place called Lagao, the barrio where the first batch of settlers led by Gen. Paulino Santos Sr. planted their “roots”. It was Fr. Milford’s first assignment–Director of Notre Dame of Lagao and assistant to the late Fr. Baynes who was the Pastor of the Sts. Peter and Paul Parish Church of Lagao. Fr. Francis McSorely, who later became the Bishop of Jolo, came down from Marbel to supervise the building of the Notre Dame of Lagao which opened during the 1947-48 school year.
In 1952, four Marist Brothers, led by Bro. Joseph Damian Teston, took over the Oblate School. Brothers Edmund Conrad, Michael O’Keefe, and Denis Herman were in this pioneering group.
The Notre Dame of Lagao campus, a complex of 16 acres, consisted of a Parish Church, the rectory, a girls school, the Sister’s convent, a boys’ school and the residence for the Brothers.
During the first year, the Brothers lived with the Oblate Fathers and took care of both girls and boys in high school. The Dominican Sisters established the girls’ school the next year. The original nipa, bamboo and sawali buildings were changed into cement buildings with seven classrooms for 180 boys. Many students attending the Notre Dame of Lagao in the early days traveled to the school from neighboring Dadiangas. To relieve these students of the arduous daily trek, the Brothers purchased a truck to transport them back and forth. Later that year of 1953, an annex to Notre Dame of Lagao High School was opened in Dadiangas to accommodate the students from Dadiangas. This annex obtained a regular faculty a year later.
Brothers Alfred Quellette, Michael O’Keefe and Robert Baptiste were among the Marist pioneers of Notre Dame of Dadiangas. They lived in a little house across the street from the school, now the Girls’ Department campus. The new Boys’ Department was built on the present site where the college is located. In 1958, the Dominican Sisters retained the original campus for the girls school. In 1959, the college was officially opened and in 1960 the Elementary Training Center was added. By 1969, a beautiful three-story building was completed.
Lagao was a lively town in the early fifties. The seat of government of NLSA (National Land Settlement Administration) was located in the heart of town. The national road cut through the center of the district. It may well be said that Lagao was the central town of South Cotabato during that time. Notre Dame of Lagao drew students from all the surrounding barrios and sitios reaching as far as Kiamba, Glan and Tupi.
In the late 50’s, Lagao started to be integrated with its daughter town Dadiangas. It later became General Santos City. Dadiangas still retains its name when we refer to Notre Dame because of its historical value. Gen. Santos City is the only municipality with four Notre Dame Schools. In 1981, the Boys high school of Dadiangas was merged with the Boys’ High School of Lagao. New School buildings were constructed at the original campus in Lagao. It is now known as Notre Dame of Dadiangas College High School Departments.
“The History of the Marist Brothers in the Philippines”, written by Bro. Bernard Curtin, FMS begins, “The Notre Dame Educational Association (NDEA) is the best known regional association of schools in the Philippines. The beginnings were poor and humble, like a violet planted in the wilds of Moroland. The dawn of Catholic Education in south Mindanao took place in the latter half of the 19th century. In 1874, the Jesuit Fathers and the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM) attempted to found a mission and a school in the Muslim town of Tamontaka, about six kilometers south of Cotabato City. They were forced to withdraw a few years later but the blood of the martyrs would enrich the soil of Mindanao to produce a fabulous harvest in the next 100 years.”
THE YEAR IS 1995.
The “fabulous harvest” produced by Notre Dame of Gen. Santos City came from all over the United States and the Philippines to welcome Bro. Bernard, Bro. Damian, Bro. Alfred, teachers, family and guests to the Second National Reunion in Las Vegas, Nevada. Encouraged by the successful launch of Notre Dame of Gen. Santos City Alumni Association USA in San Diego, CA in 1993, the newly elected officers turned their concerted efforts into a most memorable weekend.
For those who have attended the last four reunions, here’s your website to remind you of the good times we had. May it etch indelibly in your minds the memories of reunions at San Diego, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and New Jersey, keep it alive and well until we meet again at the next bridge. For those who were not able to attend, we invite you to the GRAND REUNION on June 21-24, 2001 in Anaheim California.
Together let us continue to write our own Alumni History.
“Reunion, a bridge over time.”
Our Mentors
At the 2011 reunion in Virgina I realized we had the rare privilege to have eight mentors in one place at the same time, and that this would be a wonderful opportunity to capture their images and voices, and to document their careers to date. I feel this oral history will be an important link to our dear Brothers, one that will be cherished over time.
Sincerely,
Chris Gammon
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