St. Petersburg High School is home to generations of Green Devils. These students often came from the same families.
While the educational institution dates back to 1898, its longtime facility at 2501 5th Avenue N. was constructed in 1926. The building has been called Florida’s first million dollar high school. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
School leaders, students and alumni came together Saturday to celebrate the property’s centennial anniversary. For a majority of the attendees, it was an opportunity to walk the halls again after so many years.
Don McMullen, Dave Foster and Elizabeth MacDonald Johnson attended St. Petersburg High School together. They were members of the Class of 1950. All in their 90s, the event was a rare reunion.
McMullen, 94, is a former St. Petersburg Police Department officer. His career would eventually bring him back to the campus as an investigator for the Pinellas County School Board.
“I was one of the few kids that had an automobile,” McMullen said. “I had a 1934 Ford and there were probably less than a dozen kids who had a car.”
One of his most prominent memories was not a pleasant one. McMullen broke his arm in physical education class.
However, there was one teacher who never left his mind. Virginia Davis taught History and McMullen remembers her “bright red hair.”
“Everything’s changed,” he added. “We had streetcars. It was a different world.”
McMullen’s daughter Cynthia McMullen, who graduated in 1972, is also an alumni. “I was the oldest of three girls,” she said, “and we were all in school together at the same time. We did a lot of things together.”
Dave Foster’s passion in high school was music. He never forgot his time in the Green Devils band. Foster, who would eventually serve in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1954 to 1958, played the trumpet.
With a smile on his face, Foster discussed the camaraderie he enjoyed with fellow band members. The group would take trips together to perform. “It’s a thrill to see the school,” he said. “I haven’t really been here in a long time, maybe once since 1950.”
Foster would start his own law firm in St. Petersburg in 1962 and still practices to this day. His son Bill Foster served as mayor of St. Petersburg from 2010 to 2014.
For Elizabeth MacDonald Johnson, the Saturday event was truly a homecoming. Prior to being a student at St. Petersburg High School, she lived on the property with her family during the Great Depression era.
“I was 3 years old and my dad was hired to take care of the place,” she explained. “Often, the family moved in. Back then, it was not that unusual.”
MacDonald Johnson and her brother would “climb up on the roof” and watch cars as they drove past the school. “We wouldn’t tell anybody,” she added. “We would skate in the halls during the summer time.”
One of St. Petersburg High School’s most notable alumni is former Florida governor and congressman Charlie Crist. A member of the Class of 1974, Crist made an appearance at the Saturday event and wore his original letter jacket.
“I played quarterback on the football team and was lucky to be my senior class president,” he said. “I had so many wonderful friends and experiences.”
Crist explained that the St. Petersburg High School building underwent an approximately $44 million renovation project in 2021. “I’m very pleased that it has endured as well as it has,” he said. “Pinellas County and the School Board have invested so much in the property. I’m very grateful for that.”
Mary Anne (York) Futch, Class of 1970, remembered the “great school spirit.” She was a student at the educational institution during a transformative period in the state’s history. “It was the first time the school was integrated,” Futch explained, “and we got along beautifully.”
For Class of 1954 graduate Ed Parrotte, athletics were everything. He was a member of St. Petersburg High School’s football and basketball teams.
“We always got out of trouble because we played sports,” Parrotte said. “I was very lucky to graduate because I was not a good student. I never studied or took a book home.”
Art was one of Parrotte’s favorite classes. He would eventually pursue a career as a designer in the golf business.
Parrotte, 89, would also serve in the U.S Marine Corps from 1954 to 1958 during the Korean War. “I didn’t know I was going to come to this event. My daughter surprised me,” he said. “So, I’m happy to be back in the halls that I grew up in.”
Don Bogue, 90, was one of Parrotte’s classmates and also graduated in 1954. He reminisced about a fountain that used to be on the property.
“We used to make it pretty by putting dye in it when nobody was looking,” Bogue explained. “This would make the water pretty colors like red and blue.”
Education was different during his high school era, he added. Teachers were more likely to “take their own personal time to help you do things if you were having trouble.”
Walking around the campus Saturday was a profound experience for Bogue. “I just took the place for granted,” he said. “I’m lucky to be here because a lot of my classmates have gone by the wayside.”
Bogue’s daughter-in-law Sarah Michaud graduated from St. Petersburg High School in 1996. She was a member of the marching band. “I can still recite the alma mater today,” Michaud explained. “It sticks with you. The school is deeply embedded in tradition.”
“A lot has changed in the city,” she added. “This is preserved in time. Sure, things have been upgraded and modernized a bit, but the historical integrity has stayed.”
This content provided in partnership with StPeteCatalyst.com
