Marco Perez Jr. kept a hopeful and persistent thought in the back of his mind since the day his son entered Brother Martin High School four years ago as an eighth grader.
The 1983 graduate hoped his son would wear his graduation ring — called a legacy ring — when the young man became a senior.
“I wanted him to have a choice. Maybe he would wear mine, but maybe he wanted his own,” Perez said. “I hoped he would choose mine.”
For his son, Marco Perez III, it was a no-brainer.
“I was totally on board,” the senior said. “I’m just happy to make him proud to carry on his legacy at Brother Martin.”
The elder Perez has just one word about how he feels about his son’s decision: “Everything. It means everything to me.”
Legacy rings are a long and storied tradition at Brother Martin. Families hold on to senior rings as heirlooms, eventually passing on a father’s, a grandfather’s, a stepfather’s or a brother’s ring to a newly-minted senior. And with the school’s early beginnings rising from the merger of Cor Jesu and St. Aloysius, there are legacy rings that bear a golden M or A or a CJ.
This year, more than 30 seniors will receive legacy rings. They will be conferred, along with all of the other rings, on Thursday night at the Senior Ring Mass at St. Joseph Church.
Some families locate legacy rings through serendipity.
Susan Connick never imagined an afternoon helping her mother go through her safety deposit box would produce such an important treasure: Her father’s senior ring, St. Aloysius Class of 1951.
At first stunned, she immediately thought of her son, Michael, a senior at Brother Martin.
“My father passed away almost 20 years ago,” she said, her voice breaking as she spoke. “Michael never knew my father. That he can wear my father’s ring … we just think it’s so amazing they can have this connection.”
Connick is thrilled for her son, especially since he will round out the family legacy at Brother Martin; his father, David, is a 1988 graduate, and his brother, Dillon, graduated in 2016.
“It’s an awesome tradition,” she said.
By every account, the legacy rings are beautiful. Some are fully in gold, some a mix of gold rimmed in black, others in silver. Most families will leave the graduating year of the alumnus on one side, and on the other, the senior student’s year.
Dr. Brian Barkemeyer’s fifth child and only son, Michael, is graduating in the spring and plans to wear his father’s 1979 ring. It will have an 18 on one side, and a 79 on the other.
“I think he’s happy to do it,” said Barkemeyer. “We talked about how it would be carried on in the family, and because we were able to make (the ring) a little different in a small way, it has his class identity, too.”
And not all legacy rings are from recent decades. Some have been handed down over generations.
Brandon Williams had a happy surprise when his uncle gave him the St. Aloysius ring worn by his grandfather and, before him, all of his great uncles. His ring will bear the number 40 on one side, and the number 18 on the other.
“It’s a big deal. I thought about how all of these people in my family had worn this ring. All of them came through this school. It’s a great way to honor the legacy,” said Williams, who has been a Crusader since the eighth grade.
For the Robbins’ family, there was a little bit of a dilemma. They have twins, Brandon and Blake.
Who would get the their father’s Class of 1990 ring?
“We did what most families would do,” Ryan Robbins said. “We gave it to our oldest, Brandon.”
Brandon Robbins is older than his brother by a minute.
“I was very glad to have it,” the younger Robbins said. “It shows we are going on the same path. I’ve seen where it’s taken him (his father), and now I get to see where it’s going to take me.”
