Beloved retiree to lead Waterloo high school after sudden departure of former principal

“My warranty is about to expire,” Michael Kish joked last year when he retired as principal at Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Columbia after 50 years of service.

But apparently the metro-east Catholic community isn’t quite ready to discontinue his model.

The Catholic Diocese of Belleville sent Gibault Catholic High School students, staff and parents home for the Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend with news that Kish would lead the Waterloo school as interim principal for the remainder of the 2022-2023 academic year.

“Mr. Kish will begin serving in this capacity immediately and is eager to serve in this role,” wrote Jonathan Birdsong, the diocese’s superintendent of schools, in a letter posted on Gibault’s Facebook page Wednesday afternoon.

“We are more than pleased to bring someone of Mr. Kish’s experience and his long-standing commitment to Catholic Education.”

Kish couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Kish will replace Jim Montgomery, who has served as Gibault’s interim building administrator since the beginning of the academic year with the help of other staff members who took on duties “outside of their normal scope of work,” Birdsong’s letter stated.

Montgomery also is athletic director and social studies department chair, according to the school’s website.

Montgomery’s interim appointment followed the sudden and unexplained resignation of former Principal Stephen Kidd that was announced in a letter from the diocese’s vicar general in August.

The letter didn’t give a reason for Kidd’s departure. The diocese later told parents that it couldn’t comment on personnel matters.

“While we all might wish to know more, that doesn’t change the obligation to be respectful of current employees or past employees when situations necessitate privacy,” Gibault School Board President Nathan Higgerson said at a meeting.

Kish, a Columbia native, went to seminary for two years before deciding the priesthood wasn’t his true calling. He then earned a history degree with the idea of going to law school.

His career path took a dramatic turn when an Immaculate Conception board member asked if he would be willing to teach eighth-grade social studies after an employee shake-up had left the school short-handed.

Kish ended up working 50 years at the elementary school, including 46 as principal, before retiring at age 72 in the spring of 2021.

“(Mike) always calls me ‘the heart of the school,’ but lately I’ve been calling him ‘the glue of the school,’” secretary Bev Epplin said at the time. “He keeps us all connected. We’re like one big family.

“He makes you want to be a better person and a better Christian. He always sees the good in everybody. He never says, ‘No.’ No matter how crazy the idea, no matter what you need, he will say, ‘Yes.’ He really is a unique individual. There’s no one else like him.”

Kish lamented the fact that COVID-19 was in full swing his last year on the job, requiring everyone to wear masks, stay socially distant, avoid touching and follow other safety precautions.

“That’s my big regret,” Kish said. “I haven’t gotten to know the kids as well, especially the new kids, the little kids.”

Time will tell if Gibault students will be exposed to “Kishisms,” including sayings such as “That’s what I doooooooo!” and practices such as giving Dum-Dums suckers to those who get sent to the principal’s office.

Kish also was known for engaging Immaculate Conception students in social-justice projects, taking them on trips, helping with maintenance and even stepping in as a crossing guard when needed.

“Mr. Kish wants to begin by surveying and listening to the needs of the students, staff, and families,” Birdsong wrote in his letter.

“His experience and decades of service as the principal and leader at Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Columbia, along with his personal friendship with Fr. Hustedde give him a unique perspective and passion for Gibault.”

The Rev. Edwin Hustedde founded Gibault and served as its first principal in 1967, according to the school’s website.