User:Nhupp/sandbox

Monsignor Robert Paul Hupp (July 3, 1915- August 29, 2003) was a Nebraska-born priest of the Catholic Church in the United States, who served for decades in Nebraska. He was a well-known leader of Boys Town, the Nebraska home for at-risk youth. He guided the organization through far-reaching changes including the admission of girls, changing from dorms to homes, and broadening the scope of the school to include children in other states and abroad.

Early Years
He was was born near Clearwater, Neb. in rural Wheeler County on July 3, 1915. He was the oldest of ten children. This experience led him to feel that the perfect number of children to put into family-style houses at Boys Town was ten.  I grew up with nine brothers and sisters, and I knew that was about the biggest family you could have,  he said in an interview with The New York Times in 1977. He was born into a large family of farmers and ranchers and tamed wild horses as a youth. Monsignor Hupp siblings include his sisters Marie Larson of Omaha and Mildred Pelster of Elgin, Neb., and his brothers, Maurice of Omaha as well as Andrew (Andy), James (Jim), Joseph (Joe) of Norfolk, Neb.,

He decided to become a priest in high school, and went to a Catholic preparatory school in St. Louis, where he also attended the Kenrick School of Theology. He was ordained in Omaha in 1940.

Early Career
After his ordination he served as a Navy Chaplain during World War II on the aircraft carrier the USS Corregidor, which shot down 32 kamikaze pilots. He said in an interview with The Omaha World-Herald in 1995 that '' we had no trouble with attendance at church services. ''

After the war, Father Hupp returned to Omaha, where he served at a church and was director of the archdiocese's Catholic Youth Organization. Hupp then spent eight years starting another Omaha church, Christ the King. On October 11, 1973 he was named the third director of Boys Town. Despite this big title, Monsignor Hupp said he always considered himself a small-town country pastor.

Friendship with Father Flanagan
On his days off, he played tennis at Boys Town. One day in 1948, Father Edward Joseph Flanagan asked him to stay for dinner. Father Flanagan told Father Hupp over dinner about his dream of having boys live together as families with a priest in each house. Father Flanagan died on a trip to Berlin several days later. A quarter-century later, Monsignor Hupp would put that plan into effect, substituting married couples for priests. He said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1983 that he never let himself believe he could measure up to Father Flanagan.  I can walk in his footsteps,  he said. '' But I can't fill his shoes.

Career at Boys Town
In 1973, Monsignor Hupp was asked by Archbishop Daniel Sheehan to replace Monsignor Wegner. Monsignor Hupp said in an interview with United Press International in 1983 that he did not want the job in the first place, because he was considering retirement. By the time Monsignor Hupp arrived, the poverty-stricken days of Father Flanagan's serving the boys a Christmas dinner of sauerkraut were a distant if hallowed memory. Boys Town had an endowment of $200 million, or $186,000 for each boy. It was also in turmoil, and people were taking bets on how long the new director would last. Monsignor Hupp, told The World-Herald that he came in as '' a real rebel. '' Monsignor Hupp made major changes during his term as Executive Director of Boys Town.

Notable changes instituted under Msgr. Hupp at Boys Town:


 * He focused more on quality of care and reduced the number of youths in residence to 500 from the 787 who had been sheltered under Monsignor Wegner. This made it easier to set up the new free-standing houses with resident  family-teachers. 
 * He then created the Family Home Program to replace dormitories. It’s a system in place today, where children live in homes run by married couples known as Family-Teachers. The homes allow the kids to grow in family environments.
 * The girls came in 1979, but Boys Town did not become Girls and Boys Town until 2000. The first girls graduated in 1985.
 * He put a positive spin on Boys Town's aggressive campaigns to raise money, usually one or two dollars at a time from people who did not have much to give, arguing that solvency was no sin.
 * He fired some longtime employees and ended practices like having the executive director personally sign 700 checks.
 * He began Boys Town’s expansion outside of Omaha by opening  the first site in Tallahassee, Florida.

Leadership Through Crisis
He assumed leadership of Boys Town in 1973 in the wake of a crisis: a Pulitzer Prize-winning article in The Omaha Sun reported Boys Town was amassing much more money than it was spending to take care of boys. In one of his first actions when he took over, Monsignor Hupp called a one-year halt to soliciting money. He argued that solvency was no sin, however Monsignor Hupp did not defend a letter mailed nationally in 1971, which he said in an interview with The Omaha World-Herald in 1992 '' would give you the impression the kids wouldn't have anything to eat if they didn't have your donation. '' Monsignor Hupp said his predecessor, Msgr. Nicolas H. Wegner, was ill and had signed the letter without reading it. In his 12 years as executive director, Monsignor Hupp spent that money on a new programs and growth including a hospital, a new high school, research into the problems of youths and a new system of suburban-style houses presided over by married couples. The houses replaced traditional dormitories dating back to the days when Boys Town was thought of as an orphanage.

International Efforts
He was invited by President Gerald R Ford to serve as Special Representative to the United Nations during the "Year of the Child" 1976-1977. in 1973. During his tenure he expanded the program across the country and abroad, high risk inner city youth, girls.

Later Years
Monsignor Hupp retired in 1985 after thirteen years of leadership. He passed away on August 29, 2003 in Mausten, Wisconsin. He was 88 years old. Msgr. Hupp is buried in Omaha, Nebraska.

https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/07/us/msgr-robert-p-hupp-88-reformer-of-boys-town-dies.html

https://www.boystownalumni.org/article.html?aid=156

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2003-09-08-0309080095-story.html