On September 4, Monsignor Edward Pace High School’s 53rd anniversary, Julke Llorens, Pace graduate of the class of 1964, returned to his alma mater accompanied by Mary, his wife of nearly 50 years, for a special Grandparents Day mass and breakfast. Llorens is an integral part of Pace tradition not only as a member of the school’s first graduating class, but also as the first in a family where three generations have walked the halls of Pace High School.
Llorens, who arrived in Miami on August 15, 1962, from Cuba as a teenager through the Peter Pan program sponsored by the Archdiocese of Miami, started his family’s tradition. In the 1980s, his three children Teresita, Julke Jr., and Lourdes followed in his footsteps and now, around 30 years later, his grandchildren. Carlos and Claudia Gonzalez are the third-generation of Pace students.
After graduating from Pace in 1964, Llorens attended Spring Hill Jesuit College in Alabama and later Miami-Dade Community College. Since 2000, Llorens has been a permanent deacon at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in Hialeah.
“The unconditional welcome and support I received at Pace during my senior year and the sense of belonging to the Pace family, stayed with me through the years,” said LLorens. “It was an experience deeply rooted in Christian values.”
“And,” he added, “Of course, I very much wanted my children and eventually my grandchildren to have and to share such an experience with others.”
Pace graduates from the 1960s will be having a class reunion at Pace High School on Saturday, April 18, 2015. For more information, contact alumni director Melanie Otero at 305-623-7223, ext. 347.