Crews’ views By fr. Clyde f. Crews Tom Lutes: Among the hardy Pioneers Bellarmine University has long been Prep, he had completed his sec- proud of its stalwart Pioneer Class, ondary education at the Kentucky the hardy and adventurous group School for the Blind (where he of 42 young men who formed the learned Braille) and Male High first graduating class in 1954. They School, both in Louisville. proved themselves to be a troop of At Bellarmine, the young ongoing high achievers and civically Bardstown man took class notes involved leaders. Many still gather using a small, six-keyed Braille- for regular get-togethers and can theinternationalrelationsclub: transcribing device that he proudly often be seen at campus events, charles Blanford,thomas Lutes, John displays to this day. This unusual most recently a luncheon in the kiesler,geraldhelline,ramonkrebs learning aid was sufficiently novel University Dining Hall. that The Courier-Journal Magazine Bellarmine’s earliest students came, for the most part, ran a feature on it and its talented user on March 15, from Louisville high schools—and Catholic ones at that. 1953. The article, titled “Finger-Tip Knowledge,” was And yet one among them had a degree of difference. He written by a young C-J stringer who happened to be a commuted from Bardstown daily by Greyhound bus in Bellarmine classmate and friend of Tom’s, Paul Davin. an era when about half a dozen commuter coaches a day On campus, Tom Lutes not only achieved high ran to the state’s metropolis from that Nelson County academic feats in his field of sociology, he also proved town and other regional centers. His name is Tom Lutes. himself active in college groups such as the Student Tom departed Bardstown each morning, whatever Senate, the Audio-Visual Club and the International the weather, at 5:50 a.m. Once in Louisville, he exited the bus Relations Club. He also served as senior class vice president. on Douglass Loop at Bardstown Road and walked west to cam- The 1954 yearbook, The Lance, took note of Tom’s “joke- pus. It was a daunting schedule and trek, even for a young man. telling ability,” as well as a penchant for collecting nicknames. But there was something else about Tom Lutes, something that Today, as a lively octogenarian, Mr. Lutes demurely declines would make his consistently high grades and deep involvement to share either the nicknames or the early 1950s-style humor. as a student leader during his college years more remarkable He does remember his Bellarmine years fondly and especially still. Tom Lutes was blind. recalls the school’s early compactness – everything in one As a matter of fact, Tom is still blind. And he is still remarkable, building (Pasteur Hall), where “the faculty knew everybody.” living in a handsome Bardstown home today after retirement Now, nearly 60 years after his graduation in 1954, Tom Lutes from a long career of public service work in Frankfort with retains a vital interest in his alma mater. That most specially Kentucky state government. For 30 of those years, he served as includes the cohort of his Pioneer Class. Their number today a programmer with the Office of Information Systems. stands at 25. Next time you happen to run into any of them at By the time he enrolled at Bellarmine, Tom Lutes’ long-dete- a game in Knights Hall or another campus event, be sure to riorating eye condition had reached the point that he had lost all say hello. They are a friendly and hardy lot. And should you vision in his left eye and could read only very large print with the ever think the historians are kidding about the hardy part, just right. After two years in high school at Bardstown’s St. Joseph’s remember Tom Lutes, one of the hardiest of the Pioneers. 50 BellarMine Magazine
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