On Feb. 1, 2012, the Valley Catholic gymnasium erupted in applause as students, faculty and and guests honored Pat Roshak Joyaux ’54 with an extended standing ovation as she accepted the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award.

A 1954 graduate of St. Mary of the Valley (now Valley Catholic High School), Pat Roshak was an active student on campus. She was named junior prom princess, and in her senior year was prefect of Sodality (a devotional society for Marian spirituality).

In 1978, she became involved in the school’s Alumni Association and learned of the opening for a school secretary. She was hired that year and the rest is campus history. Pat’s five daughters all at­tended Valley Catholic, as well as 15 grand­children and several nieces and nephews.

In his remarks, Valley Catholic President Bob Weber said, “She has worked with 10 princi­pals in her time at Valley Catholic, hundreds of teachers and staff members (including me as a 22-year-old first-year teacher in the early 1990s), and helped thousands of students and parents on a daily basis with everything from report cards to bus fare to simply being a posi­tive, helpful person who knows the answers to all the possible questions that come through her office.”

In accepting the award, Pat Joyaux described her education as “a gift.” She asked today’s students to be thankful to all those who make it possible for them to receive the gift of an education at Valley Catholic. Speaking from experience, she told the students that their time at Valley “will have a significant impact on their lives.”