Priest embodied local history

A part of Cape Girardeau history passed this week with the death of the Rev. Lou Derbes. Father Derbes attended St. Vincent College here in Cape Girardeau as a boy and later returned as a member of its faculty. I met Derbes several years ago when I was writing a brief history of St. Vincent's College and the River Campus as a member of the River Campus Board of Managers. As the resident historian at the mother house in Perryville, he guided me through a maze of documents and suggested books on the history of the Vincentians. His kind demeanor, learned mind and historical expertise were invaluable to the project. I asked him to write a tribute to "The Cape Boys" for my publication.

"The Cape Boys"

A Tribute to the Alumni of St. Vincent's College

By Rev. Louis J. Derbes, C.M.

Cape Boy, Cape Professor

Their purpose was to become priests. While very few of them made it, years later, as they gathered in Perryville, New Orleans, Chicago or St. Louis, they freely admitted that they acquired the discipline necessary to learn life values here. All were boarders, which led to respect for others. In a word, they learned to care. Everyone was assigned a job, which if not done correctly, was done again. Then study, study, study, and after awhile they learned how. In chapel exercises, the art of praying came to be. The camaraderie developed at a young age and the preparation received to meet life's challenges at this unique site caused the several thousand who passed through these walls to proudly call themselves "The Cape Boys."

JERRY FORD, River Campus Board of Managers, Cape Girardeau