2025 Award of Excellence

Philip Romani, Community Service

Phil Romani is an alumnus of the SPHS Class of 1979. He is an outstanding citizen who always follows the “Pay if forward” ideology. Throughout his life Philip has given a helping hand, volunteered and been a wonderful example of how all should aspire to be. Phil has gone to soup kitchens to help feed people. He has sat on several non-profit boards and PTA’S. If something needed to be repaired in schools, he was the first volunteer to start doing the repairs. He has worked closely with the Mummers Museum. He is the co-captain of the Flying Dutchman Mummers Brigade. The Flying Dutchman is the only Brigade that the members are people with special needs.

Philip evolved the Flying Dutchman Brigade to the Flying Dutchman Foundation, a non-profit organization that aids parents and caretakers of people with special needs. Being a part of the ‘Brigade’ is not limited to only the New Years Parade but several Parades throughout the year. The Foundation provides monetary support to anyone that has special needs to pay for their costumes or whatever fees are required for participate in any parade

Phil has spent many weekends throughout the year setting up for festivals and selling merchandise (autism awareness) at festivals, craft fairs, and flea markets to help raise money to be able to buy the costumes, tee shirts and hoodies for the people in his group. The foundation also donates at the end of the fiscal year to Children’s Hospital Autism research.

Every Christmas Season on the 1500 block of 13^th Street is turned into the ‘Miracle on 1 3^th St”. “Santa’ is in attendance and stands outside the foundation headquarters available to all visitors for taking pictures regardless of if they are special needs or not. A donation is requested for this special visit with Santa to support the work of the Foundation. Children can get a cookie, smile and a High 5.-

Phil does this and so much more with joy and love in his heart. He is an excellent candidate for the Award of Excellence for his service to South Philadelphia Community and beyond with his work with the Flying Dutchman Foundation.

Larry Sechuk, Alumni Board Member

Larry Sechuk graduated in 1977 from Southern and became a member of the Executive Committee of the SPHSAA in September of 2019. He was an asset to our committee from the beginning because of his retail experience with the Macy’s organization. He immediately asked to help organize and maintain a school store of various types of merchandise that would benefit not only the school but the alumni. At Southern Larry was very active in  high school sports and played Football, Baseball and was Captain of the Southern Wrestling Team in his senior year.

Upon graduating Temple University he began a 41 year career in the retail industry. Larry started at Strawbridge and Clother, them on to John Wanamaker at 1300 Market Street and them found his career taking him to New York at R.H. Macy’s

At Wanamaker Larry was managing the Loss Prevention Group for the store at 1300 market Street and was involved in many projects one being the person who coordinated activities between the Store and the  movie production company during the filming of Mannequin in 1987.

1988 Larry moved on to R.H. Macys in New York City where he progressed through the company and was appointed Vice President in the Asset Protection Division.

Larry was the Vice President of Asset Protection of the Herald Square Store for 9 years and lead the company and the 4,000 employees in that building through the 911 attack on the World Trade Center. The day of the attack Larry kept the store open at the request of the Mayor so people had l place to go and find comfort. Larry and his team provided assistance to the people in the store to connect with their family members. Larry also was supplying the Port Authority Police, New York Police and Fire Department with essential supplies that day during the search and rescue operation.

Additionally during his time in Herald Square he would regularly give an orientation to New York City Police Offers from the academy the economic impact of retail theft and e commerce fraud.

Larry them was promoted to the Vice President of Asset Protection, Special Operations and Governmental Affairs. In this role he was responsible for developing partnerships cost to cost with government officials to ensure support for company initiatives. In this position Larry created a monthly Macy dinner night at the Ronald McDonalds House in New Your City, he worked with Mayor Minino of The city of Boston with creating a community day in an underserved area of the city. He also created a business improvement District in Downtown Los Angeles and was part of a back to school event for the city’s Muslim community where Macy’s provided school needs and medical attendance to children and parents. Larry was given the Citizen of the year award from the city police department for his efforts in Los Angeles He also had responsibility for the Macy’s Parade and Entertainment Group, and their 3 parades, 4th of July Fireworks, 6 Holiday Tree Lights and handle high profile celebrity appearances. Additionally he was responsible for the 24/ 7 protection of the Cheif Executive Office and Board of Directors, Labor unrest and protest activities directed towards Macy’s.

Larry had retired from Macy’s and continues to operate as Chairman of the Citizens Crime Commission of Philadelphia as well as President of the Delco Phantoms Youth Ice Hockey Organization for the past 19 years and serves as a Vice President in the Delaware Valley Hockey League.

Larry is a board member of the SPHS Alumni and was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.

Bill Ronayne, President, Mario Lanza Institute

Bill Ronayne, is the president, treasurer and publicity director of the Mario Lanza Institute, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization which honors the memory of the late great singer by sponsoring scholarships to promising young singers to further their training and careers. More than 300 scholarships have been awarded and many of the recipients have gone on to perform at major opera houses. Ronayne connected with the Mario Lanza Institute after it had established its first few locations initially at Nick Petrella’s Record Shop on Snyder Avenue in the 1970s, then a quick stop on Broad Street before moving to the Settlement Music School in Queen’s Village in the 1980s. In 2002, it moved to 712 Montrose Street where Ronayne became heavily involved as part of the Institute. He took over as president in 2010 after holding the position of vice president and publicity director and has engineered several fundraisers and events to keep the ball rolling. Ronayne is a Brooklyn, NY resident who makes the two-hour commute on weekends to open and entertain at the museum, now located at 1214 Reed Street, with guided tours. He also regularly provides educational programs such as lectures, concerts and the screening of Lanza’s films and television appearances.

Fran Schneider, Former SPHS teacher

Fran Schneider was a Health and Physical Education teacher at South Philadelphia School from 1969 to 1997. In that role, she served as the Physical Education Department Chairperson and coached intramural afterschool floor hockey. Her passion for teaching began as a teenager when she was a counselor at her family’s summer camp. With the goal of becoming a high
school teacher, she pursued a degree in education at the University of Maryland, graduating in 1965. Fran continued her education at Temple University, where she was a graduate assistant and earned a Master’s Degree of Education.
A unique aspect of Fran’s teaching career at Southern was that she taught alongside her husband Mitch. He was also a Health and Physical Education teacher as well as the varsity
basketball coach. What set Fran apart from other teachers though, were the bonds she developed with her students. With many of her students lacking parental support, they looked
to her not only as a teacher, but as a mentor, a role model, and an ally. She advocated for them, provided guidance to them on personal challenges, and most importantly, just listened to them.
The impact she had on her students was insurmountable. This is evidenced by the fact she still maintains relationships with a number of her students who continue to look to her for guidance and now friendship.

Today, Fran continues to run her business, Sportworks, which she has owned for 43 years. Her company provides printed sportswear, uniforms, and accessories to teams, clubs, schools, and businesses. In fact, she provided the plaques that our awardees are receiving today. She also substitutes teaches in Philadelphia. Interestingly, her first day as a sub was at
Southern. She spent the remainder of that year at Widener Memorial, a school for kids with various physical and medical disabilities. She now teaches at Catharine Headstart.
Fran’s proudest accomplishments are her daughters Jami and Miki. She spends her free time cuddling with her Bernadoodle Callie, and spoiling her granddaughter, Jordyn.