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Graduation Days: Grandmother, mother and daughter learned at Lauralton Hall

Posted on Jun 04, 2007

Reprinted from the New Haven Register • 6/3/2007
by Pamela McLoughlin, Register Staff

MILFORD - When Rosemarie Halapin attended Lauralton Hall in the 1950s, the uniforms were ankle length, no strapless dresses were allowed at dances and just because they were girls, basketball was played on a half-court.

By the time Halapin's daughter, Judy Bump, got to the all-girls Catholic high school in the late 1970s, the hemlines were higher, but Bump remembers vividly how they were required to wear saddle shoes to preserve the vintage wood floors.

Today, when Judy Bump's daughter, Amanda, graduates from Lauralton Hall, she'll have other memories -- of full sports opportunities for girls, strapless gowns, many shoe choices and no nuns in habits as teachers.

But as much as it’s all changed, the three women cherish how it's stayed the same. The three generations can compare their class rings, still the same after all these years, and their pictures at graduation in front of the statue of Mary. Most of all, they say, Lauralton has left them with solid values and made them women of confidence.

"We found our voice here and we use it," Judy Bump said.

Amanda Bump, 18, of Stratford, who will be among 97 graduates to receive diplomas today, said she's glad she followed in her mother's and grandmother's footsteps because she feels well-prepared for college and her life ahead.

"My mom went here, my grandma went here and it just feels right," Amanda Bump said. "Ever since I was little I knew I wanted to come here...I feel really well-prepared for college."

Halapin, a Trumbull resident who lived in Bridgeport as a girl, chose to go to Lauralton because she wanted a Catholic high school and there were none in her hometown. After graduation in 1957, she went on to college and received a teaching degree and has had a career as a family life educator for the Diocese of Bridgeport.

Halapin said she never pressured her two daughters, Lyn Barry and Judy Bump, to attend Lauralton, but she's glad they chose the path and that attendance there is taking hold as a family tradition.

"It's good to see that maybe they found here what I found here," Halapin said.

It's not uncommon for three generations of women in one family to follow tradition and graduate from Lauralton Hall, formally known as Academy of Our Lady of Mercy Lauralton Hall, but today is likely a first: three generations in attendance, the older two in Milestone years.

Those milestones are Halapin's 50th or golden reunion year and Amanda Bump's 25th or silver reunion year, as a member of the class of 1982.

"Legacy is very important at Lauralton," said the school's alumnae official Kathleen Kearns Donahue. "The traditions have carried on during the years."

Judy Bump said she brought Amanda to Lauralton through the years long before she was high school age, to Christmas in the Mansion and other events. She would show her daughter special places like her former locker location and the school's beautiful chapel.

Amanda Bump, who admits she wasn't always enthralled with mom's little tours, said she'll likely do the same someday if she has a daughter. Judy Bump has two younger daughters who desire to help cement the tradition, including Emily, a first-grader.

When Amanda Bump receives her diploma today in Lauralton's white cap and gown, it will be a proud moment for mom and grandma.

"I say I'm not going to cry, but I'll probably have tears in my eyes," Judy Bump said.

The valedictorian of Sunday's graduating class is Kathleen Keenoy of Fairfield and the salutatorian is Allison Vincenzi of Westport. Commencement ceremonies begin at 10 a.m.



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