By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Lucille Mistysyn and Dulinda Ernesto went to high school in a church basement. They took typing in a storeroom. Their senior class home room was in the Catholic father's rectory.

No, they weren't educated in the Third World. They are graduates of Maryknoll School in Our Honolulu, which celebrated its 75th anniversary at a memorial Mass yesterday.

Were Mistysyn and Ernesto deprived, underprivileged, shortchanged? Don't you believe it.

"I sent my three boys to Maryknoll through the eighth grade," said Mistysyn. "My grandchildren graduated from Maryknoll."

"We were lucky to come to Maryknoll," said Ernesto. "Other students missed a lot."

The two of them, from the class of 1937, got together and reminisced Monday about what made Maryknoll so special. One reason was Sister Francesca, who taught science. She was young and had freckles and big eyes. One day a wisp of red hair peeked out of her habit. This electrified the entire class.

"The nuns were entirely covered except for their faces," explained Mistysyn. "To discover that Sister Francesca had red hair was very exciting."

The school uniform for the girls consisted of a middy blouse, black tie, hose and a black serge skirt. Girl students were not supposed to go out with boys. After school, the more daring girls rolled up their blouses and pinned them snug around their waists to give themselves a figure.

Smoking was also taboo.

Mistysyn said she and two other girls smoked a cigarette at a mom-and-pop store down the street during noon hour. Word of this transgression got back to school before they did.

"I was called in by Father George Powers," said Mistysyn. "He asked me if I wanted him to tell my father what I had done. I said, 'Noooooo ...' "

Ernesto was even more daring. She wore her engagement ring to school on graduation day. The other girls clustered around to look, which prompted Sister Tarsicius, the principal, to call her in for a conference.

"Are you wearing an engagement ring, Dulinda?" asked Sister Tarsicius.

"Yes."

Thereupon, Sister Tarsicius urged Dulinda to bring in John, her fiance, for a talk.

"She was wonderful to John and she knew all the answers," said Ernesto. "She told us it would be nice if we waited a year before getting married." They waited until October. The sisters knitted wedding presents.

There was no money or room for playground equipment. The student-nun ratio was 40-to-1. In the early days, the sisters slept on the stage of Bachelot Hall. Later it was divided into two classrooms.

Ernesto said she's been in contact with the sisters since graduation. Mistysyn said she's volunteered at Maryknoll all of her life. For both of them, old school ties seem to be almost as strong as family.

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.