George Tribou

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Msgr. George Tribou
Msgr. George Tribou

Monsignor George Tribou (born April 14, 1924, ordained September 1, 1949, died February 2, 2001) was long-time principal of Catholic High School for Boys, located in Little Rock, Arkansas, and was an influential figure in the local politics of the city of Little Rock and the state of Arkansas[citation needed] as well as the Catholic Church in the United States.

[edit] Early life

Born in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, George Tribou worked as a film projectionist at a local theater. He would later tell students that part of his inspiration for becoming a priest was seeing Norman Taurog's film Boys Town and Spencer Tracy's romanticized portrayal of Father Edward J. Flanagan.[citation needed] While working there, he was required by his boss to polish a large, stainless steel wall every week. A strong work ethic characterized Tribou's early life forged him into the Roman Catholic Priest that he became. While he was principal, when he did not feel like doing any work, the sign on his desk that said "DUTY" was all he needed to read to continue his work for the school. That sign remains there to this day.[citation needed]

George Tribou came to St. John's Seminary in Little Rock for his theological studies. After his ordination in 1949, he served as assistant editor for the predecessor to the Arkansas Catholic, the newspaper serving the Diocese of Little Rock, as well as chaplain at St. Vincent's Infirmary and St. Joseph's Orphanage. He took over as chaplain for the Carmelite Monastery of St. Theresa before becoming a teacher at Catholic High. He received many awards in Little Rock and from around Arkansas, including Citizen of the Year.[citation needed]

[edit] Career at Catholic High

Father Tribou served as a teacher at Catholic High for over fifty years, and as principal of the school for forty-one. During his tenure he became famous for his disciplinarian attitude and propensity for cigars. Under his guidance the school moved to a new building on then Lee Avenue, and its MCJROTC unit (dubbed Sid's Kids, after Major General and Governor Sid McMath) was founded. In May 1996 he led a student-body march on War Memorial Stadium in a successful attempt to protest the loss of the stadium as the venue for home football games.[citation needed]

He was granted the honorific Monsignor in recognition of his service to the Diocese of Little Rock and the greater Church in the US. However, since this came long after he had became well-known in the community as "Father Tribou", he was usually referred to by that name even after becoming a monsignor.

As principal and teacher, he developed a reputation for himself locally as a creative disciplinarian with a knack for results. A few of his more famous[citation needed] approaches to discipline included:

  • a boy was throwing rocks from the garden while another was clapping and encouraging him. The boy had to pick up sticks after school and the other boy had to clap and encourage him throughout the punishment
  • making a boy smoke an entire cigar if he was caught smoking cigarettes
  • letting a boy carry a door for a day since he had such a fond habit of slamming it
  • allowing boys to settle their disputes with boxing gloves. The following day, they would serve in-school suspension together and would not be allowed to talk to anyone other than each other the entire day. If boys fought in the school without being sanctioned, they would have to sit in the main lobby during lunch, holding hands, feeding each other their own lunch with the one free hand.
  • announcing to the class that he had discovered the identity of the boy who had been seen smoking on school grounds and that if he didn't show up at his office in a certain amount of time, his penalty would be severely worsened (upon which a long line of boys would manifest in front of his office)
  • giving haircuts to boys whose hair was too long for the school's regulations
  • making girls and boys hug the pillars of the school lobby all night if they were caught dancing too close during prom
  • having boys wear a plastic bowl taped to their heads when coming to school with a "bowl" haircut
  • making a student wear a sandwich board that said "careful, I spit" if caught using chewing tobacco.

In 1999 he participated (along with President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton) in the delegation greeting the late Pope John Paul II on his last visit to the United States., February 2 (published February 2, 2002) .


Father Tribou died in 2001 after complications from cancer. Faithful to his wishes, he was buried on a Friday afternoon, after class, since he always stressed hard work and studying during the school week. His memorial and burial was attended by thousands of former graduates from all over the United States. After his death, the section of Lee Avenue in front of Catholic High was renamed Father Tribou Street to commemorate the great man who led so many boys to future success as men at the school.[citation needed] Currently, Steve Straessle is the active principal of the school with Monsignor Lawrence Frederick and Brother Richard Sanker in charge of pastoral, administrative, and guidance duties.

[edit] Quotes

  • "Father Tribou with two other guys." (Caption in CHS Yearbook below a picture of Father Tribou with Pope John Paul II and President Bill Clinton.)
  • "The measure of a man is his ability to control the animal within."
  • "We don't offer AP classes; we offer M&P classes. Meat and Potatoes."
  • "Christ is the reason for this school."
  • "Be good, boys."
  • "It doesn't matter how many doctors and lawyers we produce, but how many good fathers and husbands come from here that measures our success."
  • "To have destroyed the defective infant, Helen Keller, would have been to destroy also the teacher-humanitarian who was Anne Sullivan. In countless cases throughout the world a defective child has not been an expensive, heart-rending burden but a priceless gift that has brought out the hidden strengths of a father, a mother, and sisters and brothers." (unpublished speech, January 31, 1980)
  • "We don't make rules at Catholic High unless they are needed. We have found the need to make a new rule--you may not flush sweaters down the toilet."
  • "Many schools have talked of installing metal detectors. That would not work here. These boys have too much lead in their asses."