Saying goodbye to one of Louisville's favorites

Right outside of Chicago stood a sturdy house of 15 little Irish Catholic kids, led by a happy father and an even happier mother. Proudly taking the role of the first girl and second oldest of the bunch was a young Mrs. Vercillo. Faith and an ever-growing love for the natural world bonded her family together. The family's love for nature began at a small ranch by the Mississippi River, owned by her grandparents. Mrs. Vercillo and her huge family would all fit themselves into a van and stay there for a week each summer, this trip being one of great impact. To this day, Mrs. Vercillo and all of her siblings love camping, hiking, and the views that the night sky offers.

While many faculty graduated from Louisville, Mrs. Vercillo attended another all-girls school. Similar to Louisville, this all-girls Catholic school was also centered around sisterhood and the encouragement of young women. Mrs. Vercillo was part of the first-ever class to graduate. Her class was attending school while it was still being built. Due to construction, every girl would instead be dropped off at the brother school in a classic blazer, paired with saddle shoes, gloves, and a hat.

The school was run by nuns then, who were all in their 20’s. She mentions how the sisters were very impactful to her and how she carried the lessons she learned into her career as principal. They were their teachers, and because there were no upperclassmen, they acted as seniors. As she continued her high school career, setting all the school traditions fell onto her class’s shoulders, which she later remarked was very fun. Mrs. Vercillo’s experience at both Louisville and her own alma mater made clear a common theme that all-girls schools share. While founded on different principles and by different caretakers, each school shares similar values.

“All the things I loved most about life came to fulfillment here,” she said, “family, faith, passion for the beauty of earth, and of course women!”.

As an administrator, she took up the position of Vice President of Academics. Serving as both a mentor, companion, and partner for Mrs. Vercillo was the encouraging and caring Sister Myra. At the time, Sr. Myra was President of Louisville and worked very closely with Mrs. Vercillo.

She remembered what a beautiful perception of people Sr. Myra possessed: “She was the one that really saw in me what I did not see in myself.”.

As soon as Mrs. Vercillo began working at Louisville, Sr. Myra knew she would be a perfect fit for the position of principal. After asking twice, Mrs. Vercillo almost reluctantly took the job.

The actual acceptance of her job was more funny than it was unexpected:

“This is a cute story.” she laughed,, “One day there was a parent meeting. I knew that if I was going to be there I was going to have to stand in front of the parents...So I come over to the campus in the evening and Sister Myra was standing at the top of St. Louis Hall Steps. And she looked down and she could see me coming. And as I put my first foot on the step up, she said to me ‘Oh, so you’re gonna take the job then?’ and I said ‘Well…’.” She joked about how nervous that had made her, but added that ultimately, Sr. Myra was correct.

Louisville does a beautiful job in teaching their students, but also teaching their staff. Mrs. Vercillo believes that love is an ongoing lesson most people on campus learn at some point. Love was put into the development of the property and into the educational environment. A little known slogan about Louisville goes something like this, “Without the LOVE in Louisville, U IS ILL.” Louisville would not be complete without love, and Mrs. Vercillo has gracefully contributed most of her love to the students, faculty, and campus. She later admitted that “One thing I know I’m going to miss dearly is adolescence. Adolescent girls and their excitement for life.”

Mrs. Vercillo’s advice for Dr. Aguilar was that she had no advice at all. “She is wonderful in and of herself. She has all that it takes to do very well in this position and I’m very excited to pass the bouton.”

Mrs. Vercillo's time here as principal will soon come to a close, but the glamorous impact she made on each person who passed through the school will never go overlooked. After her retirement, one could catch her spending time with her family, who is spread out all over the United States, hiking, or star gazing. Mrs. Vercillo, you will be missed, but the only thing to say now is thank you for all you have done for us and we hope your future is filled with adventure and happy times!