From sad loss to legacy of hope

By Laureen McMahon

A Catholic elementary principal has died suddenly, but his legacy is leaving blessings for another Catholic family that suffered tragedy.

The unexpected passing on Feb. 25 of David Schollen, principal of Sacred Heart Elementary in Ladner, has shocked and saddened school staff, students, and parents, said acting principal Roland St. Cyr.

The 53-year-old Schollen had been meeting with members of the school education committee at the end of the day when he was stricken. He was rushed to hospital but doctors were unable to revive him and he died from cardiac arrest due to a rupture of the aorta, according to schools superintendent Doug Lauson.

A team of Catholic Family Services counsellors was immediately dispatched to help the Sacred Heart community begin to deal with the sudden tragedy. Another team was sent to St. Bernadette's Elementary in Surrey where Schollen's wife Janice teaches Kindergarten.

Besides his wife, Schollen leaves to mourn six children: Aaron, Alex, Emily, Genevieve, Marcus, and Christian; his parents John and Clare; and his sister, Denise.

"He was a great role model for his students and school community," St. Cyr told The B.C. Catholic. "Our teachers and students have already begun to write stories about the impact David made on their lives." The stories, he explained, will be compiled into booklet form and presented to the family.

Schollen's compassion for others, evident in many ways, is now helping a Catholic family that suffered its own loss late last year. Schollen issued an appeal to the Sacred Heart community for donations to help St. Francis of Assisi School in Vancouver install a wheelchair lift, an automatic door, and a lift for the school bus so a student whose two brothers were killed in a car accident late last year could get back to school this spring.

Sacred Heart was among the first schools offering to raise money for the special equipment needed to welcome Karl Moeller back to school, said a St. Francis of Assisi spokesman. The motor vehicle crash which took the lives of his brothers Andrew and Matthew left Karl, now 8, a paraplegic.

"We thought," David Schollen wrote to parents, "that since we are fortunate enough here at Sacred Heart to have a school with all the modern conveniences, it would be fitting to extend a helping hand to them. Please feel free to drop off any donations you would like to make to the main office and we will send them off to the school along with staff contributions."

The students, he explained, were each donating $2 from money collected on the March non-uniform day to the wheelchair and lift fund for St. Francis of Assisi.

Prayers were offered for Schollen at St. Bernadette Parish on the evening of March 4 and Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, offered the Mass of Christian Burial the following day with Father Patrick Chisholm, pastor of St. Bernadette, concelebrating. Interment was in the Gardens of Gethsemane Cemetery in Surrey.

Schollen spent his teaching career within the Catholic school system in Vancouver. He had been the principal of Sacred Heart for eight years. He had previously taught Grade 7 at St. Francis de Sales, and before that was for 14 years at St. Mary's Elementary in Vancouver as a teacher, athletic director, and vice-principal.

Just two days before his death, Schollen had told his students that he was moving on to become principal of Cloverdale Catholic Elementary in Surrey next September.