Toner Institute, established in 1899, was an orphanage for boy's run by the Capuchin Franciscan Friars. The school was named for Dr. James L. Toner of Westmoreland County, who provided in his will a $140,000 fund to establish a school for boys from broken or disrupted homes.

Originally housed at St. Joseph's Protectory, located on Vine Street, the orphanage relocated to a new Catholic Industrial School called Toner Institute on the 100 acre Toner Farm in Derry Township in 1901, under the care of the Brothers of Our Lady of Lourdes and the Sisters of Mercy. Reverend Joseph Gerold, who had been in charge of St. Joseph's for several years, was assigned as superintendent of the newly formed establishment.

Twenty boys were transfered from St. Joseph's to Toner Farm during that first year in Derry. These children, ranging in age from eight to sixteen, received an education, worked the farm fields to earn their keep and were taught the trade of their choice. Some of the children were placed in homes and the rest were raised to adulthood and then released.

In May 1909, Bishop Regis Canevin appointed a committee to oversee the reorganization of Toner Institute. He proposed that the institute also be utilized as a place for homeless boys who came within the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts, although it was not to take in boys charged with criminality.

Under the direction of the St. Vincent DePaul Society, the institute was to be funded completely through private means, with no assistance from the government or local agencies. In later years, parents could enroll a child at Toner Institute for a small fee.

The school moved to Brookline in 1914, relocating temporarily to several homes along Dorchester Avenue. It was now also under the auspices of the Seraphic Work of Charity and administered by the Franciscan Capuchin Fathers with the Sisters of Divine Providence. The new superintendent assigned by the Bishop was Reverend Sigmund Cratz.

Reverend Sigmund Cratz

Fifty acres of rolling land were acquired on the hilltop overlooking Brookline's Dorchester Avenue, stretching from Castlegate to Queensboro Avenues to the north, and bordering McNeilly Road to the south, with the purpose of building a campus to house the orphanage. It took several years of hard work, but as time went by the campus began to take shape.

The institution was officially chartered and the name changed to Toner Institute and Seraphic Home. Although the school's location was was just across the border in a remote corner of neighboring Mount Lebanon, the nearby citizenry and the local Pittsburgh newspapers continually referred to the institution as being located in Brookline. The institution was even given a Brookline address and zip code. This geographical misprint continued throughout the school's existence.

Barns and other out-buildings were soon erected to house farm animals and equipment, and the children of the orphanage worked to cultivate the fields, thereby providing plenty of fresh vegetables and dairy products. Surplus product was sold to local merchants or at market in the city to help provide funding for continued growth.

The first building to rise at Toner Institute, a dormitory for the boys, was completed on December 8, 1914.

On December 8, 1914, construction of the administration building, which also served as a dormitory, school and chapel, was complete. Fundraising efforts were conducted by the German Knights of St George, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Seraphic Work of Charity, the German Catholic Society, the German Catholic Women's League and the Saint Vincent DePaul Society.

Chief among these fundraising bazaars were Donation Day and Flower Day. These events were well attended and brought in very generous amounts of money. Because of this type of generosity and the hard work of the instructors, by July 1916 the institute was proud to proclaim that, since 1910, 548 boys had received training and education.

A stone statue of St. Francis of Assisi was erected on November 11, 1921, to commemorate the 700th Anniversary of the founding of the Third Order of St. Francis. The boys of the institute provided entertainment and lunch was served by the Ladies' Auxiliary. The statue was the work of Pittsburgh sculptor Frank Artez.

A group of boys at Toner Institute on October 19, 1924.

Rev. Thomas Bryson (above) of St. Brendan's Roman Catholic Church, Dormont, delivers the sermon on October 19, 1924
and Bishop Hugh C. Boyle, who placed the cornerstone, along with his assistants and other dignitaries.

On October 19, 1924, Bishop Hugh C. Boyle officiated the ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone of a new school building. With construction costs of approximately $70,000, the structure was comprised of three classrooms and a recreation hall.

This occasion also coincided with the annual Donation Day festivities and was attended by thousands of locals from Brookline and the surrounding area. The new wing, St. Anthony's Hall, was dedicated on June 13, 1925. A cloister connected the structure with the existing administration building.

St. Anthony's Hall, the new school building, was dedicated on June 13, 1925. Below is Rev. Julius Baker,
Bishop Hugh C. Boyle, Rev. Eugene Baker and Rev. Sigmund Cratz, director of the institute.

Construction of St. Anthony's Hall resulted in a $35,000 debt for the institution. Here the kids are gathered
during a reception and card party held on April 3, 1926. These fundraising activities were generally very
well attended due to the wonderful job done at Toner Institute with the boys in it's care.

Nearly two years later, on July 4, 1927, Bishop Boyle was present again, this time for another milestone in the growth of Toner Institute. Assisted by Father James Quinn of Brookline's Church of the Resurrection, Bishop Boyle laid the cornerstone for a large chapel, situated next to the school building and dedicated to Our Lady of Angels. The completed chapel was dedicated on September 14, 1930.

Church dignitaries who participated in the dedication of the new chapel are shown in the above pictures. Members of
the committee in charge (upper photo) were George J. Bich, Francis J. Dadowski, Lawrence J. Fey, J. E. Tarter,
Louis Dadowski Jr, Thomas H. Hester. M. C. Hippert and C. A. Englert; (lower photo) Monsignor Martin Ryan,
Archabbot Alfred Koch, Bishop J. J. Swint of Wheeling, Bishop Hugh C. Boyle, Monsignor Edward E. Weber,
Bishop Joseph G. Pinten of Grand Rapids and Rev. Sigmund Cratz, director of the institute.

The inside of Our Lady of Angels sanctuary shortly before the dedication.

The Toner Institute Choristers in January 1931. The group was trained by the Sisters of Divine Providence,
and they provided all of the music at the Toner auditorium and during Mass in the chapel.

Aerial view from May 1939 shows Toner Institute's fifty acres on the hilltop south of Dorchester Avenue.

A collage entitled "Youngsters Find Happy Lives At Toner Institute" appeared in the April 27, 1940 Pittsburgh Press.

In April, 1940, the student population numbered 130 children of grade school age. Fifteen sisters were in charge of the teaching and domestic departments. To date, over 5000 boys had been trained by the institution. Although many outsiders considered Toner to be a monastery set away from the world, the Franciscan Fathers welcomed all visitors who wished to inspect the buildings and see the boys going about their daily activities.

A sad day for the Brookline community, the sisters and friars that taught at the school, and the children of Toner Institute, occurred on September 24, 1940, when the Very Reverend Sigmund Cratz O.F.M.Cap passed away at the age of fifty-five.

Reverend Cratz had been the administrator of the institute since it's move to the South Hills of Pittsburgh in 1914. Under his direction, the Institute had grown and prospered, along with the thousands of children that benefited from his tutelage and guidance. Reverend Cratz was survived by his step-mother, Mrs. Felix Sonnefeld, of Brookline, and a sister, Mrs. Cora Altenhof, of Gary, Indiana.

Reverend Regis P. Krah, one of the priests at Toner since 1925, was assigned as the third superintendent of the institute. In Reverend Cratz's honor, Bishop Boyle and Father Krah, on March 9, 1942, dedicated the $75,000 Father Sigmund Memorial Hall, a two-story building containing six classrooms, theatre, gymnasium, auditorium and library.

Reverend Regis Krah with a student in 1949.

During World War II, many former residents and students of Toner Institute served in the armed forces of the United States. One such student was Raymond J. Remp, who spent six years at Toner Institute before settling in a home with his brother Albert. Raymond fought through the battles of Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe.

MSgt. Remp, a member of the 24th Infantry Division, also served in the Korean War. During the initial stages of the struggle, he was taken prisoner. He managed to escape and make his way back to friendly lines, all the while carrying a wounded comrade along with him. On August 2, 1951, he returned to his family in the United States.

MSgt Raymond J. Remp welcomed home in 1951.

War service was not limited to students. Father Alan Patrick Madden, one of the instructors at the school, was a chaplain in the 28th Division who was reported missing in action in December 1944. He turned up as a prisoner of war in Germany. After the conflict ended, Father Madden returned to the institute.

In September 1945, bids were taken for the construction of a $125,000 building designed as an infirmary and reception center. The two-story brick building contained three dormitory units, equipment for physicians and dentists, recreation rooms, and a finished basement.

The building connected to the administration building via an undergound passageway, so that patients could be moved to the infirmary without being taken outdoors. The dedication of this building marked the completion of the Toner Institute campus construction. In addition to the many modern buildings, the campus now included a large athletic field, swimming pool, playground, dairy and farm yard. The rest was grassy lawn and well-cultivated farm fields.

After World War II, in 1948, Reverend Krah adopted the tone of a military academy for the institute. The boys were taught the fundamentals of military drill and discipline. It soon became a common site at Brookline parades to see the finely dressed cadets marching in formation wearing their West Point style dress uniforms.

Flying kites on the hillside above Dorchester Avenue in 1949.

Aside from the military-type training, the boys led normal lives of study and play, along with their daily chores in the buildings or in the fields. The Institute fielded baseball and basketball teams in the Catholic School League. Other sports were offered, like swimming, boxing and track.

Additional activities included horseback riding, membership in a 35-piece band, a Boy Scout troop and Cub Scout pack. The Toner Institute boy's choir was one of the finest in the area, performing during Mass at the local Catholic churches on holidays and special occasions.

On February 23, 1949, one of the institute's steers went AWOL and was found rambling through nearby Whitehall. The 700-pound animal had to be put down by the police. The kids received a special treat when a local butcher prepared man-sized portions of fresh steak to supplement the children's diet.

The Silver Jubilee of Reverend Regis Krah as a priest at Toner Institute was celebrated on June 8, 1950. Three days of activities, benefits and festivities climaxed with a celebatory Mass conducted by Reverend Krah. The observance included a processional of priests and dignitaries from the administration building to the chapel, where the crowd was treated to a special musical presentation by the Toner Choir.

The processional heads towards the chapel for Reverend Krah's Silver Jubilee Mass on June 8, 1950.

Cadets board a bus for one of their many field trips in 1954. Passes were granted to the boys for visits
to many of the attractions around the city, including stadium sporting events.

The Toner Institute cadets marching in the South Hills Memorial Day Parade in 1955.

Aerial view from May 1957 shows Toner Institute's thirty-four acres on the hilltop south of Dorchester Avenue.
The adjacent South Hills Catholic High School can be seen under construction along McNeilly Road.

In May 1955, sixteen acres of Toner's land bordering McNeilly Road was sold to the Diocese of Pittsburgh for the construction of South Hills Catholic High School. The remaining thirty-four acres remained part of the institution. Then, on September 30, 1957, tragedy struck Toner Institute once more when Father Regis Krah passed away suddenly. Father Krah had been with the institution for thirty-two years, the past seventeen as superintendent.

Father Louis Glantz

Father Louis Glantz, once a student at Toner Institute and now a Capuchin Friar, assumed the role of superintendent. His tenure lasted only a short eighteen months. Father Glantz, age 45, suffered a fatal heart attack on May 24, 1959 while on a visit to Cumberland, Maryland. Father Marcellus Fuller then took charge as the institution's fifth superintendent. Father Fuller was followed in 1962 by Father Linus Doemling.

The cadets of Toner Institute staged a full dress military review on June 12, 1961,
with representatives of the armed services as reviewing officers.

The Toner Institute Choir sang at Our Lady of Loreto Church in 1961.

Cadets at Toner Institute are visited by Santa Claus on Christmas Day, 1963.

Aerial view from May 1967 shows Toner Institute's thirty-four acres on the hilltop south of Dorchester Avenue.

On July 13, 1967, Father Kevin Miller was named the seventh director of the institute. Eleven months later, as reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on June 9, 1968, Toner held it's 21st annual military review on the school grounds. Three officers and a sergeant from the 99th Army Reserve Command served as reviewing officers and judges for the sixty-five boys in the school's first through eighth grades.

Just four days after that review, on June 13, 1968, a five-alarm fire destroyed a three-story stable on the school grounds. The blaze was discovered only minutes after the institute's students had left the area for a picnic. Farm machinery and supplies valued at nearly $100,000 were destroyed. The stable itself had an estimated value of $35,000. Firemen, hampered by low water pressure, were able to save an adjoining barn and garage.

In 1970, Toner Institute underwent some major policy changes. The military uniforms were replaced by sneakers and blue jeans. A marching unit gave way to a guitar group doing folk songs. The population was no longer all Catholic and the institute changed its focus from an orphanage to a home for boys with "mild" emotional problems, boys who were moderately disturbed and socially maladjusted, and youngsters with discipline and family problems.

Enrollment had shrunk to forty-seven boys from a peak of 160. Ten of these were high school age and the rest attended classes at the elementary school, now an ungraded class system with a maximum of six boys to a class. All teachers were now specialists in special education. Reverend Miller, the institute's director, was now responsible solely for financial matters and Kenneth Wagner named school principal. The school received $12.50 per day for each child, which was less than half the required $30 per day to provide basic care.

On October 17, 1975, Father Miller and the Capuchin Order withdrew from Toner Institute after sixty-two years. Henry J. Palmieri, former director of the diocese's Bureau of Child-Caring Institutions, was named Executive Director. A year later, on October 8, 1976, Bishop Vincent Leonard appointed Reverend Ronald L. Kneram as Palmieri's replacement.

Reverend Ronald L. Kneram

The cash crisis reached it's zenith in 1977, when the cost of providing each boy with food, clothing, recreation, care and on-campus education by special teachers on Toner's staff of seventy-eight reached $55 per student, with subsidies from the state and county totalling only $23 per student. Fundraising campaigns were insufficient and the institute was operating at a $300,000 annual loss. On April 5, the board of directors announced their decision to close the school.

Explaining the plans to close, Board President John Holland said, "The old congregate institutions built in the later part of the 19th and earlier part of the 20th centuries have become obsolete."

Father Kneram, the ninth and final director of Toner Institute, looked around at the monastery-type buildings on the campus and said, "They may look cold, but some of the new types of institutions look sterile and cold, too. There's nothing cold about Toner because there's love here."

Father Kneram takes a stroll around the campus with a few of his students on April 5, 1977.

Then he recalled the boy's reactions when he told them the home must close. He said, "Those young fellows who came with a chip on their shoulder have learned to care so much about others that they just looked sad and asked, 'Father, what will happen to you?'"

After seventy-nine years, sixty-four of which were spent on the hilltop above Dorchester Avenue, the campus closed on June 30, 1977. The closure was a sad time indeed, but it did not tarnish the lasting legacy of the many thousands of young men who had benefited from the dedication and training of the Capuchin Fathers, the Sisters of Divine Providence, and others that had taught at Toner Institute.

NOTE: Father Ronald L. Kneram, who stayed on at Toner Institute until 1979 to oversee the administrative closing of the institution, passed away on February 18, 1980, less than a year after completing his assignment.

* Information gathered from newspapers.com, focusing on the four main Pittsburgh publications *

Written by Clint Burton - April 3, 2019

List of Toner Institute Directors (1899-1977)

Father Joseph Gerold * 1899-1914
Reverend Sigmund Cratz * 1914-1940
Reverend Regis Krah * 1940-1957
Reverend Louis Glantz * 1957-1959
Father Marcellus Fuller * 1959-1962
Father Linus Doemling * 1962-1967
Father Kevin Miller * 1967-1975
Henry J. Palmieri * 1975-1976
Reverend Ronald Kneram * 1976-1977

Bellevue Cadet Escapes As Plane Crashes In Brookline

The following image appeared in the January 12, 1936, Pittsburgh Press.
The caption read:

Blinded by fog and his radio "gone bad," Flying Cadet J. M. Rodgers, en route from Mitchell Field, N.Y., to the City-County Airport, narrowly missed Toner Institute buildings in Brookline last night as he brought his plane, an Army Boeing, to a crashing halt.

The entire Pittsburgh Press article:

Flier Forced Down By Fog

Ship Misses Toner Institute Building, Smashes Into Baseball Backstop

Running into a fog en route from Mitchell Field, New York, to the County Airport last night, Cadet Pilot J. M. Rodgers of Bellevue sent his plane low over a baseball field, ripped through the wire backstop, and brought his ship to a crashing halt just short of the Toner Institute buildings in Brookline.

The pilot left New York yesterday afternoon to visit his father, State Senator William B. Rodgers of Bellevue. The fog, which started as he crossed the Alleghenies, deepened as he flew on, and he found himself "flying blind."

Low on gas, he landed his ship on the first available open stretch of land. The plane ripped of a wing as it crashed, but the pilot stepped from the plane unhurt.

Young Rodgers was flying an army biplane. He had been en route five and a half hours, having stopped at Allentown.

Scores of students from the institute and other residents of the Dorchester Avenue neighborhood heard the plane roaring overhead and went out to watch the pilot's maneuvering. The ship narrowly missed one of the spires of the institute's main building.