What does it mean to leave a legacy?

“When you put a lot of love into the world eventually it's gonna come back to you, and I think that’s the definition of Kathy Hylla,” says President of SLUH Alan Carruthers.

After 32 years of service to St. Louis U. High, beloved Director of Food Services Kathy Hylla made her long-awaited return to the school community at yesterday’s Mass of Praise and Gratitude. Unable to work in recent months due to health issues, it was Hylla’s first on-campus appearance in front of the student body since the end of the first semester.  

This return was bittersweet, however, as Hylla publicly announced her retirement effective at the end of the current school year during the post-Mass faculty farewell ceremony. A mainstay of the SLUH community for over three decades, Hylla’s impact was truly felt by all, from current students, faculty, and alumni.

Following the traditional faculty farewell video following Communion, SLUH President Alan Carruthers took to the stage, where he introduced a separate goodbye video solely for Hylla. In the video, members of the school community recalled many of the moments which made Mrs. Kathy among its most cherished members.

“It was great to see Mrs. Hylla back in the building and to hear the impact that she has had on so many people's lives just by doing all kinds of little things for them,” said STUCO president AJ Thompson.

Among other things, those in the video mentioned Hylla’s remarkable ability to have memorized the name of virtually every person to have dined in her cafeteria. Mike Kumpf, the Director of FSC, even recalled Hylla’s tendency to spend the night at school after late-night events, all so she could be up in time to prepare breakfast for students the next morning.

As the Director of Food Services for the entire school, Hylla was not only responsible for facilitating school lunches during her tenure, but also for catering large events such as Cashbah, team banquets, and admissions events. Largely due to her instrumental role in catering these events, Hylla remained very much in the public eye, with her quiet-yet-cheerful demeanor and willingness to prioritize the needs of others serving as the perfect example of being a woman for others.

In addition, Hylla also led catering services for many class reunions throughout the years, giving her the opportunity to reconnect with alumni, who always excitedly rushed to say hello to the one and only “Mrs. Kathy.” More often than not, she still remembered their names.

Before working at SLUH, Hylla cleaned houses and worked at a reception hall for years, but was elated when she got the opportunity to work at SLUH, given that three of her brothers came through SLUH.

“I did a lot of housecleaning when my kids were little. And then I also worked at a reception hall for about five years and then I got the opportunity to work for Food Service Consultants and they asked me if I wanted to come to SLUH and manage so I said yes and was excited to do that,” said Hylla.

Starting in October of 1990, SLUH looked very different from what it is now. Instead of eating in the Commons (at the time it was the gym) as students do now, they ate in the old cafeteria, which is currently being renovated into the Dill Center for Academic Success.

“It was the same amount of boys, but everything we did was upstairs in what you've never known as the old cafeteria. You guys were all crammed in there,” said Hylla.

These first few years at SLUH kept Hylla busy as there was less space, and even no air conditioning up in the old cafeteria.

“They were very, very hectic. Like I said, we were upstairs in the old kitchen. It needed a lot of updating, it had no air conditioning in the kitchen. Matter of fact, we didn't have that until we moved downstairs in 2012,” said Hylla.

Most students probably know Hylla as the debt collector of the Commons, as she was tasked with tracking down students who owed money. Even in her early days at SLUH this was true, although because email didn’t exist, she had to write students' names down in a book. But as busy as she was, she would often have students write it down themselves, which of course led to problems. 

“When I first started we didn't have this special meal card system so I would keep a book. And a lot of times I ended up going around to the homerooms trying to find the kids to get them to pay me back because they didn't have all the fancy things that we have now, like the emails and all the announcements. It was so different. And there were some times when I was so busy at the register that I would let the boys write down their own name and what they owed, and that got to be a circus. I had Santa Claus written down more than one time. So it was quite interesting to say the least. But I don't want to turn anybody away. I don't want the kids not to eat, even though they probably had money in their pocket,” said Hylla.

For 19 years Hylla took care of SLUH and eight other schools, but in 2013 because she was here so much, they decided that she needed to be at SLUH full time.

“When you're with a group of teenage boys for that many years, you do feel like you enjoy being with the kids. I enjoyed being able to talk to them or help them with whatever, I am a people pleaser for sure I don't ever want to say no, I want to figure out what I can do to help,” said Hylla.

“I think Mrs. Hylla embodies so much of the spirit of St. Louis U High in the way she goes about her daily actions. I think she is a true example of Jesuit ideals and actions. Just the love she shows and the passion for what she does, her care for the person, and using her role as a position of ministry, it's an incredible example to all of us of how we serve God and be people of love in whatever we do,” said Deves.

After 31 years of service, in  2021, Hylla was awarded the Faculty Appreciation award. After seeing math teacher Dan Becvar with a bouquet of flowers, she knew it had to be a female teacher. 

“I said ‘oh, it's gonna be a female teacher’ and then they said my name and I couldn't believe that they said my name because it's never been someone that's not a teacher. I was very overwhelmed and very grateful to think that you boys thought enough of me to give me that. It was a real honor for me. I'll cherish that forever,” reminisced Hylla.

Even though the award had always gone to teachers, everyone knew Hylla was a deserving candidate for the award because of how kind she is to all the students in the lunch line, and although it is one of the most hectic times of the day as students are all racing to get an open seat at their table, everyone loves to stop by and say hi her.

“I'd say I met her freshman year when I came here. The first interaction I had with her was during summer school. I bought my lunch, I've never brought my lunch from home, I always buy it. And so when I buy my lunch, you obviously have to interact with Mrs. Kathy. There's like four different lanes, but you always go to Mrs. Kathy,” said senior Hanks Edwards.

“For me Mrs. Hylla was just someone I look forward to seeing at lunch every day passing in the lunch line,” said Thompson.

Something that can’t be repeated is Hylla’s ability to brighten peoples day by just sharing a conversation with them at a point in a day. 

“She is just a friend to everyone she encounters,”  said Deves. “When you interact with her it's like interacting with a friend. Whether I am going through the lunch line or working with her on an event or something we are hosting. It's so much fun being able to work with someone as great as she is. Her friendship is one of care and love and every moment I get to see her it brings me joy.” 

After having her name announced, the student body immediately leaped up to give her a standing ovation. And after everyone had settled down after her second standing ovation, Hylla was told that coming with the award was the responsibility of speaking at graduation, which she looked forward to.

“Somebody said to me ‘you know, you don't have to talk at graduation’, and I thought, Oh, but I want to talk. I want to be able to tell the boys what it's like and the experiences that I had and how important it was to me to be able to do what I've done for so long,” said Hylla.

Hylla need only wait one more year for another unforgettable memory as she was highlighted individually during this years leaving faculty presentation after all school Mass on Wednesday, April 27. 

“Well, I know the process of when people leave they have a video about them. And I knew that because naturally my family was all there and my children, my grandchildren, my great grandchildren and my siblings were all there. I had no idea about naming the kitchen and the scholarship was just just an amazing thing that no one will ever be able to not know who I am, I guess,” said Hylla.

After a video tribute to Hylla, she was handed flowers and a flag by senior STUCO president AJ Thompson and senior STUCO spirit leader Gus Tettamble.

“Yeah that was definitely a special moment. It’s cool just to know Mrs. Kathy and to say that she had a part in my life, but to be a part of that ceremony and to see her expressions and her reactions up close made it extra cool for me, it was definitely a sweet moment that we could share,” said Tettamble.

Hylla was then surprised with both a scholarship that will be given out every year, and a plaque commemorating her dedication to SLUH which renamed the servery to ‘Kathy’s Kitchen.’

“You know, to just think that one boy every year will be given this scholarship with my name on it and the generosity of the benefactor that thought enough about that to want to do that for me, it's just overwhelming,” said  Hylla. “Somebody sent an email out the other day and they said something about ‘Kathy's Kitchen’ and it sounded so odd, but it's a very proud thing for me.”

Looking forward, Hylla doesn’t have too many plans outside of spending time with her family and getting some extra sleep in.

“I guess not work 60 or 70, 80 hours a week and be able to maybe spend a little bit of time with my great grandchildren and still enjoy my grandchildren that are starting their lives,” said Hylla.

Through all the uncertainty, there is one thing for sure, Hylla will actually be able to get a real night's sleep in a bed instead of having to spend any more nights on the Campus Ministry couches.

“One funny story is that one night there was too much going on in campus ministry. So I decided that I would sleep someplace else. I went to the box office and slept in there because I always like to sleep where I don't think anybody's going to know that I would be there. And I stopped at the box office and I did my usual routine. I brought my keys and I put my phone and plugged my phone in and my alarm went off and I got up and picked up my phone and walked out of the room but without my keys. So I was walking around in the hallway at school in my pajamas at 4:30 in the morning thinking ‘I can't get back in there, I can’t go anywhere except just walk around the building. I finally called Mr. Prince and told Emmitte, ‘can you come over and help me get my keys out of the box office?’” laughed Hylla.

After 32 years of work at SLUH, Hylla only has one thing to say about her experience here:

“I’d do it all over again, too. In a heartbeat.”