Notre Dame Elementary School was recently the benefactor of a substantial monetary gift by the Soplata, Kraus, Murray and Braford families, one which reflects the love they have for the beloved institution and also an outward demonstration of their family’s unique heritage in the community...
NDES Receives Generous Gift
Notre Dame Elementary School was recently the benefactor of a substantial monetary gift by the Soplata, Kraus, Murray and Braford families, one which reflects the love they have for the beloved institution and also an outward demonstration of their family’s unique heritage in the community. Their family’s $10,000 donation helps to create “The Nature Classroom,” a valuable outdoor learning opportunity for the elementary students, that will prove increasingly useful given the realities of the current educational environment. The uncanny connection between the family’s generous donation and Notre Dame rests upon the career of Sister Mary Barbara Soplata, SND, an elementary instructor in our school since 1983, and her father’s lifelong vintage collection of World War II and early Jet Age era airplanes. The most recent airplane of the Walter Soplata collection to be sold and placed in a museum was a P-47 Thunderbolt. The proceeds of this sale provided as the basis of the family’s gift to Notre Dame. This P-47 did not actually serve in the war, but was on the production line when the war ended in September 1945.
Sr. Barbara, and her siblings Rita, Margaret, Wally and Mary grew up in nearby Newbury and were the children of Walter and Peggy Soplata. A family who prided themselves on hard work, faith and generosity was led by their dad, Walter, who spent an entire life collecting old airplanes. For almost 50 years, the only plane that was sold was Walter’s American Eagle biplane, to purchase the wedding ring for his adored wife, Peggy. After World War II, Walter used hardwood from airplane crates to build the family home nestled on 17 acres in Newbury. Sr. Barbara and her siblings learned how to nail roof shingles and work with wrenches. They loved the outdoors. As their family grew, so did the plane collection. On Sunday afternoons, after church, visitors and veterans would come and visit all afternoon. Walter would open up all the planes and let veterans and visitors sit in the cockpits and check out the engines and parts of the planes. Though the Sunday gatherings at the Soplata home happened decades ago, the hands-on experience is remembered to this day. According to Sister Barbara, “Unlike a museum where one could only view an artifact, my father desired a deeper experience for families of veterans and the community and allowed visitors to climb in and through the planes he collected.”
Such fond and meaningful memories evoked a strong desire to continue the legacy of Walter Soplata’s plane collection in a variety of ways.
After 50 years of collecting planes Walter felt it was time to begin to place them in museums and get them out of the harsh Ohio winters. He sold six planes at the time of his retirement. Some of that money was used for charitable causes. Before Walter died in 2010, he asked that any further “plane money” would be used to care for the love of his life, his wife Peggy. She passed away in 2017 and a few months later, her daughter, Mary Braford. Sister Barbara and the rest of her siblings have continued to find good homes for their dad’s planes. Two have been restored for flying and the XP-82 Double Mustang was given the Grand Champion Post-World War II Award at the Oshkosh airshow last year.
With the Soplata family’s love of the country and nature, they felt that the donation of The Nature Classroom would honor the memory of their parents, grandparents, and sister. “The trails are wonderful on our campus and inspire our students and staff to learn about the outdoors,” continues Sister Barbara, “just as we were inspired by our mother and father, who were both lovers of airplanes and nature years ago.”
Sister Barbara has served as an art teacher, reading and enrichment instructor for students in kindergarten through fourth grade during her tenure. With a teaching career that began in 1974, she remains energized to this day by the same emotion that inspired her career, then: the joy she experiences when children come to understand concepts, when the light bulb turns on.
“Sister Barbara is a model for our students and our staff,” says Dr. Jacqueline Hoynes, principal of Notre Dame Elementary School. “We are deeply grateful for the Soplata, Kraus, Murray and Braford gift and are confident that their family legacy of generosity will live on with the Nature Classroom.”
The Nature Classroom will also serve as a place of prayer. Many years ago, a beautiful statue of Mary was donated by Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Schreiner and was placed at St. Boniface Parish in Cleveland, Ohio. A few years ago, their grandson, Mr. Fred Buettner, a longtime employee of Notre Dame, helped to bring it here to Notre Dame. This beautiful Mary statue honors Mr. Fred Buettner’s mother, his two aunts, Notre Dame Sisters Mary Clarita and Mary Anne Schreiner and his two children, Brian and Anna Buettner, who attended Notre Dame Elementary School.
Notre Dame Schools extends it deepest gratitude to the Buettner, Soplata, Kraus, Murray, and Braford families for their generous gifts.
