Reitz Memorial High School

Evansville Memorial High School was founded in 1922 by Francis Jones Reitz. FJ Reitz founded both the Reitz High School that was created on the west side of Evansville in 1918 and Memorial High School. Created as a Catholic school and would later become one of the prominent private schools in Southern Indiana. Located on North side of Lincoln Ave between Bennighof Ave and Runnymeade Ave. Classes at Memorial High School started in 1925. 

After Reitz High School finished construction and was officially ready for the school year, Francis Joseph Reitz decided in 1922 to build another school in Evansville. He decided to build a Catholic high school to memorize his parents, this is where the name of the school originated from; a sort of “memorial” to his parents because of their devout Catholic beliefs. Classes would first start at Memorial on January 5th, 1925, just 4 years after plans began for the school’s creation.  

Memorial was the first Catholic high school in Evansville that was not attached to a Catholic church or monastery, standing on its own. Given that Memorial was a catholic school, boys and girls were taught separately and by a separate group of teachers. The boys at Memorial were taught on the main floor of classrooms by the Brothers of the Holy Cross and the girls were taught on the third floor of classrooms by the Sisters of Providence. Students at Memorial were taught by religious teachers until 1994 when the last remaining Sister of Providence left the school.  

Until the 1960s, specifically 1969, Memorial High School remained relatively similar to how it was when it was constructed in the 1920s, looks-wise. A new wing was added to the west end of the school, which expanded the first and second floor and added a gym, library, and a band room. And then in January of 2000, a $5 million expansion to the west wing of Memorial would begin. This expansion added 8 new classrooms, 2 art studios, etc. Renovations to the original building also took place which improved several aspects of the high school (new A/C, heating, and new windows). These additions increased the capacity of the school by 900 students. 

Sports have played a prominent role in Memorials extracurricular history. Within the last few decades, Memorial has acquired several different stadiums for a variety of different sports. In 2006, Memorial Norbert Stone dedicated NJ Stone Baseball Field to Memorial for them to use as their home baseball field. In 2008, Memorial build Wayne Henning Stadium to use as their football field and Varsity and Junior Varsity track meets. In 2014, Traylor Family Stadium was built to house Memorial’s soccer program, which is commonly known as their most successful sport, along with their football program.

Engler, Joe. “Historic Evansville.” Historic Evansville - Reitz Memorial High School. Accessed November 1, 2023. https://historicevansville.com/site.php?id=memorial.  

Ghosh, Supria. “Reitz Memorial High School - Alchetron, the Free Social Encyclopedia.” Alchetron.com, August 30, 2022. https://alchetron.com/Reitz-Memorial-High-School.  

“Our History: Memorial High School.” Memorial. Accessed November 1, 2023. https://www.reitzmemorial.org/our-history.  

“Reitz Memorial Catholic High School, Evansville, Indiana.” Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, December 11, 2020. https://spsmw.org/about/alumni/reitz-memorial-catholic-high-school-evansville-ind/.