Countless lives impacted by Miss Byrd's 40 year of service as superintendent

By ROB HERBST
The Catholic Week
Forty years as a beloved superintendent plus 57 years altogether as an educator equals countless lives touched.
Hundreds flocked to the Cathedral rectory on May 12 to recognize Gwen Byrd, who is retiring following a distinguished career. A packed Cathedral ballroom for the reception said more about Miss Byrd than any words could declare.
“The presence of all these people here states it more eloquently than I can. You’ve touched so many lives beyond this room,” Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi said. “With the leadership you’ve given our schools, thousands of lives have been touched. You have made sure that our Catholic schools provided excellent education. More than that, formation.”
Miss Byrd is a Mobile native who taught in Natchez, Miss., Chicago and St. Louis before returning home to work in the Catholic Schools office in 1977. She became superintendent in 1983.
Among those in attendance included Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, who declared May 12 “Gwendolyn P. Byrd Day.” He also reflected on the lives impacted by Miss Byrd.
“When you stop and think about it, everybody in this room has impacted somebody in their lives, but very few of us can say we can measure up to what you’ve done Gwen,” Mayor Stimpson said. “You have done so much for so many. God has had you in the palm of His hands.”
Few can also measure up to a career that spans 57 years.
Dr. John Staud, executive director for the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education, compared Miss Byrd’s run to Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.’s record of 2,632 consecutive games played.
“You think of streaks that will never be broken,” he said.
The ACE program prepares highly committed teachers and places them in a two-year fellowship at Catholic schools across the country. Dr. Staud said Miss Byrd was one of the first to support the program and since then, 125 ACE teachers have been gotten their start in Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Mobile.
Principals of Catholic schools in the archdiocese also expressed their thanks to Miss Byrd. Together they gifted Miss Byrd a bracelet that includes a charm representing each school
“We appreciate all your kindness, your affirmation, your leadership, your spirituality, your love of the Lord and you always make each one of us feel so, so special,” said St. Patrick Catholic School Principal Sr. Margaret Harte, P.B.V.M.
But for all the lives Miss Byrd touched, she’s been equally impacted.
“I have been so blessed myself, all these years, all the people that have come into my life,” she said. “I didn’t do for them, they did for me.”
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