Alumni Spotlight: Dennis Schlindwein ‘65
I am about to attend the 50th year high school reunion for “kids” I taught in 1975 when I was a teacher at Alleman Catholic High School. I can’t help reflecting on how I achieved that place in my life and how it helped me succeed in the next chapter of my life.
In 1965 I had just graduated from Alleman High School with a class of 320 students. I was somewhere near the middle of my class’s academic rankings. I had played two years of basketball and four years of baseball and distinguished myself by setting a school record in gym class for doing 300 squat thrusts. The school had stringent academic and behavioral requirements and even told us how to dress – boys had dress slacks and button-down shirts while the girls wore dark blue to the knee skirts and white blouses.
Our boys’ athletic teams had limited space in which to practice and hardly ever had a genuine “home game” but were very competitive in most sports because of Don Morris, Herm Miskowicz, and Gene Henze. Our small gym was the site for visiting entertainment, pep rallies and mandatory Masses. No one seemed to complain and, if someone did voice dissatisfaction, he/she would be visited by former boxer and current no-nonsense Principal John F. O’Connor. I was very lucky to be part of that school and not get to know him up close and personal.
What followed even deepened my love for the school. After graduating from college, I was hired to teach English and coach several sports at Alleman. I was so very proud and excited about my future in place that I had always thought so much of. The following three years were nothing but positive. I was eventually entrusted to also coach basketball and football. School room 231 was my oasis and I thrived teaching my English classes. I never dreaded one day of instructing or coaching and both helped me in my unexpected and unprepared-for new future endeavors.
In 1974 my wife and our four-year-old daughter Stephanie packed our bags and moved to Miami, Florida. An acquaintance was a U.S. Secret Service agent in charge of former President Nixon’s Florida residence and felt I was a good candidate for the U.S .Secret Service as a result of my teaching and coaching experience. On June 21, 1976, I was sworn in as an agent in our new town of Charlotte, NC.
I spent 25 tremendous years with the Secret Service, and I believe my “upbringing” in the halls of Alleman High School had benefited me regarding my duties as a federal agent. I was responsible for federal criminal investigations as well as national and world-wide protection assignments for numerous Presidents and many visiting heads of state from foreign countries.
My time as a teacher at Alleman taught me people-skills I probably never would have mastered in another occupation. I became an instructor once again as a firearms overseer and a physical fitness coordinator for almost my entire career. Both assignments demanded non-biased relationships to succeed, not much different from the personnel flexibility I had to master as a high school teacher/coach.
During my career I was fortunate to have become “friends” with several Presidents, especially President George W. Bush and former President Jimmy Carter. I rank those relationships right up there with my Alleman High School teacher-heroes Coach-History teacher Phil Sailer, and English teacher Father Hugh Robbins.
Alleman High School always was and always will be the building-block of my life. I have since written a book entitled, Remarkably Unremarkable: Life History that accounts for my professional career. Hail to the Pioneers!!!