As strong as Catholic High is in instilling academics and discipline, he says, the school also helps boys forge equally strong lifelong friendships.
"My classmates were and still are my best friends," Straessle says. "They were in my wedding. They are my closest confidants. They are the people who will carry me to my grave."
One of those friends is Sean Dunbar, who sells advertising for Arkansas Business Publishing Group and attended March 19’s 5K run at Catholic High with his son, Lance.
Straessle was already a junior when Dunbar entered Catholic High, but Dunbar said Straessle always looked out for the younger students.
"He knew how important it was that boys not go to the football games with their moms," Dunbar said. While another boy would charge Dunbar and other freshmen $5 to ride in the trunk of his car, Straessle offered his rides for free.
Straessle says he was more than happy to show off his set of wheels, his "main claim to fame" in high school. He drove a silver 1981 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Station Wagon, the last of the full-size station wagons. It even had its own eight-track player, Straessle proudly says. The car also had its own nickname, "the Beast."
As admiring as Dunbar was of Straessle’s car, he says Straessle’s track record as a stand-up guy has sustained their friendship through college, where they were fraternity brothers in Sigma Phi Epsilon, and into adulthood.
"If my son grows up to be half the man Steve is, I’ll be very pleased," Dunbar said.
Another former classmate and fraternity brother, David Shields calls Straessle "the voice of reason" who kept his buddies out of trouble.
"He treated you like a man and expected you to act like a man," says Shields, an Allstate Insurance agent in Little Rock. "Steve lived his life like he was running for president."
High Profile :: Steven Gregory Straessle Steve Straessle has big shoes to fill at Little Rock’s Catholic High. As the newly appointed principal, he’ll be making history as well as teaching it.(Subscr. Reqd.)
