Profiles in Jesuit History - Joseph Ayd, SJ

Sixty years ago, in a blizzard in the early Sunday morning, January 31, 1966, a fire broke out at St. Joseph’s Prep in the basement of the building on Stiles Street. The fire spread quickly and turned into an 8-alarm fire with 200 firemen responding to fight the flames in freezing temperatures. The Jesuit community led by the Principal Fr. Joseph Ayd, SJ rushed to the building on Thompson Street which now houses the Gesu School to seal it off from the flames to save that building and preserve school records. Two-thirds of the school, including classrooms, the school library, the gymnasium, the cafeteria, and chapel were lost in the fire, but most of the classrooms and science labs in the 17th Street building were saved by the quick action of Fr. Ayd.

Many local schools offered help, but under Fr. Ayd’s leadership, the Prep reopened for classes at 17th & Girard one week later. Creative use of spaces that survived the fire was found including having classes in the convent building on 17th Street and having band practices in the empty pool. The fire would have been an opportunity for the Prep to consider moving out of the city, but Fr. Ayd and the Jesuit community were committed to continuing the mission of the Prep in North Philadelphia which enabled it to attract young men from across the city as well as the suburbs. There was no President of the school at the time, and the Principal effectively took that role. Fr. Ayd was the driving force in a fundraising campaign to rebuild the Prep. Construction of a new building began in the spring of 1967, and in December of 1968, less than 3 years after the fire, a new $5 million dollar building was dedicated at 18th & Girard. Classes began being held in the new building in January of 1969.

Fr. Ayd (February 14. 1923 – November 17, 1999) served as Principal of the Prep from 1957 to 1970. There were over 20 Jesuits on the faculty of the Prep during these years, including many Jesuit scholastics who found Fr. Ayd a very supportive, available, and wise mentor. Students and parents also valued Fr. Ayd’s availability and support.

Fr. Ayd left the Prep in 1970 to join the faculty of Scranton Prep where he taught English, served as Superior of the Jesuit community there, and was President of the school before retiring in 1986. He passed away in Scranton at the age of 76 in 1999. Fr. Herbert Keller, SJ (Prep Class of 1969), who worked with Fr. Ayd both at THE Prep and Scranton Prep, wrote at the time of Fr. Ayd’s death, “I regard him not only as a truly humble man of God, but a giant in Jesuit secondary education, inspiring young people to strive for the qualities he lived so well in his life of deeds – dedication, humility, concern for others, commitment to academic excellence, peace of soul, and profound love of God.”  

For all of us who have attended the Prep since the fire of 1966, we owe a debt of gratitude to Fr. Ayd’s leadership in preserving the mission of the Prep in North Philadelphia. Remaining in the heart of the city helps attract the diverse melting pot of the Prep community that makes it so unique and special. Thank you, Fr. Ayd!