A connection with CBA comes full circle
New president has deep roots at Christian Brothers Academy
BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer

Brother Frank Byrne

MIDDLETOWN — As the provincial of the New York/Toronto District for the De La Salle Christian Brothers, it was Brother Frank Byrne's job to hire a replacement for the late Christian Brothers Academy president, Brother Andrew O'Gara.

While it wasn't his initial impulse, in the end, Byrne's long connection with the school made him the logical choice.

When Brother O'Gara passed away in November after serving CBA for 30 years, Byrne was charged with finding a replacement. Brother Ralph Mantedoro, who was second in command to O'Gara, was his initial choice to be the next president of CBA.

"Brother Ralph thought that would be a good idea for him to do. Then all of the sudden," Byrne recounted, "he said, 'Why don't you do it, and I'll stay with what I'm doing?'

"It wasn't initially what I was looking to do, but eventually I did meet with the board of trustees, and they discussed that it would be great for a graduate of the school to come back in our 50th anniversary year."

Byrne was born in Red Bank and later moved to Shrewsbury. He attended St. James School in Red Bank, graduating in 1971, and is a 1975 CBA graduate.

When looking for his first job, he was hired by a familiar face in the CBA family.

"I wanted to do a year's worth of volunteer work and got in touch with Brother O'Gara, who was principal at a school in the Bronx [N.Y.] called St. Raymond's [St. Raymond High School for Boys]. I went up there to meet with him and he hired me as a math and religion teacher as well as track coach," Byrne said. "Brother Andrew came here [to CBA] right after he hired me, so I never got to work for him."

In 2002, Byrne was elected provincial of the New York/Toronto District of the De La Salle Christian Brothers, an international teaching order founded more than 300 years ago and dedicated to the Christian education of youth. He oversaw operations of the Christian Brothers academies in Canada, Detroit, New York and New Jersey.

Byrne has spent the last several years traveling around to the schools, but has his own office at the La Salle Provincialate down the road from Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft.

Byrne said that after meeting with the academy's board, they came to the mutual decision that he would take over where O'Gara had left off.

"Basically … I appointed myself to the job," Byrne quipped, "but I did try to get Brother Ralph into it first."

Through August, Byrne will be finishing up his time as provincial, estimating that he will be spending 30 percent of his time as CBA president and 70 percent performing his duties as provincial.

"I'm on the road about 38 weeks out of the year, but it'll be nice to get back to Lincroft on the weekends when I can," he said.

He said that the school has a rich history as it approaches its golden anniversary.

"The three founders of the school came out here when this was just a farm," Byrne said. "There were no buildings here except for what you see today with the houses and barns. They had this vision of getting a high school, so for 50 years that has sufficed in attracting students to come here and get their families involved."

He said that now that Christian Brothers Academy is celebrating 50 years, the school community must look at what is needed for the next 50 years.

Byrne's first recollection of CBA was going along with his father to visit the construction site of the main building.

His father was vice president of the Walter Hurley Construction Co., the general contractor for the original main building.

Byrne later became a member of the student council while playing on the school's intramural football team and running for the track team.

Looking forward to the next 50 years is at the top of the list for things to do now that Byrne is CBA's president.

"Some of the things we've discussed and the board of trustees have approved are the expansion of the library and media center to make a brand-new one, classrooms on the science wing and an addition to the athletic facilities," Byrne said. "Certainly one of the most important things will be to build up the endowment, which is the money we put aside for financial aid for students."

He said that many people do not know that CBA awards about a million dollars each year in financial aid.

The alumni have been very good in making sure that qualified students who want to attend CBA get the necessary financial aid, Byrne said.

"With the way the economy is, families will need more financial assistance," Byrne said. "That's [the message] I really want to make sure that we get out there."

Byrne said as president, his main function would be to raise funds for the school.

"My main job will be to go out and meet with people to tell the story about what we want to do and ask them to help us," Byrne said. Other duties will include teaching math and religion to freshman students starting next year.

"I've always been very much involved with students, be it through extracurricular activities, teaching or meeting with the student council," Byrne said. "It's good to remind yourself why you're doing what you're doing.

"If I'm going out there to tell the story of CBA and get support, I'd better have the knowledge of what is going on in the school."

From 1979-1981 Byrne taught and coached track at St. Raymond High School for Boys in the Bronx and said that he got the job from Brother O'Gara, through another CBA connection, track coach Tom Heath.

"It's interesting that Mr. Heath who is coaching track, taught me to run hurdles here for four years in indoor and outdoor track," Byrne said. "That's how I started coaching. Actually, when I came up through the Bronx and when Brother Andrew hired me, he was looking at my résumé and saw that I ran track for Mr. Heath at CBA and asked me to coach the track team [at St. Raymond]. It's how I got my first job, thanks to Mr. Heath."

Following his time at St. Raymond, Byrne worked at La Salle Academy in New York City as a teacher and track coach from 1982- 1989 before becoming vocations director for the New York District, a position he held until 1993. Later he became vice principal, then principal at St. Raymond.

As president of CBA, Byrne hopes to continue many of the initiatives that Brother O'Gara began during his 30-year tenure.

"There's no way I could ever fill his shoes, as he was one of a kind," Byrne said. "I was very close with Brother Andrew," Byrne said, noting that he has been in Lincroft for seven years and that Brother Andrew would visit St. Raymond's for alumni events. "People always said that he knew everyone's name. I was always amazed that he didn't know just your name but your brother's and sister's names. How he could do that is amazing."

He said that Brother O'Gara was very instrumental in getting the school's endowment to the level it is today and he wants to continue what the man who first hired him started.

Brother O'Gara, to Byrne, played a large part in shaping the school community at CBA.

"The fact that students want to come here helps show that we are doing the right thing," Byrne said. "It's a result of a nice camaraderie in this school. I look at some of the friends I made here when I was a student; it says a lot about the school."

Contact Jamie Romm at

jromm@gmnews.com.