Jeff Bucci was a student at Cathedral Prep for his freshman through senior years of high school, and he graduated in 1984. Bucci furthered his education by attending Gannon University right up the road from Prep. Cathedral Prep has been producing alumni since 1921 and doesn’t plan to stop doing so for quite awhile. Here’s a look at what one of Prep’s many amazing alumni’s lives has turned into since walking across the stage and grabbing a diploma.
Bucci didn’t originally choose to go to Cathedral Prep, as he wanted to attend Canty Prep on East 38th Street.
“It was an all boys school also,” Bucci said. “Great academics, pretty good sports program.”
However, Canty Prep closed during Jeff’s 8th grade year, so he ended up going to Cathedral Prep instead. Prep looked pretty different during this time from the building to the staff running the school. The headmaster during his time at Prep was Father John Dollinger and some of his teachers included Mr. Wenrick, and his favorite teacher, Mr. Wachter.
Mr. Wenrick was part of Jeff’s favorite memory at Prep during one of the rallies before a basketball game.
“He has this gnarly voice,” Bucci said. “He would start out real low, his voice all crackly. By the end of his speech, he would be screaming and spitting.”
At the end of it all he would rip his shirt off to reveal a giant “P” painted on his chest.
“It was totally awesome,” Bucci said.
Bucci said Prep prepared him well for college, noting Prep taught him to be a good observer of the things around him.
Bucci has enjoyed success in college and beyond. He is currently employed as a clinical pharmacist at UPMC Hamot. He also now has two children, a daughter named Sophia that is 20 years old, and a son Joe that currently attends Prep as a senior.
“I’m proud that my son was able to experience some of the bonding, camaraderie, and brotherhood I experienced,” he said.
When asked about how Prep helped make him the man he is today, Bucci said, “The education and experience at Prep certainly instilled positive values that I still live by today. Honesty, commitment, honor, hard work, love, and charity are a few examples.”
Bucci is a prime example of what a man of Prep looks like in today’s society, and he is a great role model for students to strive to be. He used his opportunity of going to Cathedral Prep to its full extent through education in college and then eventually onto his job where he still holds his values very close to his heart.
