Allentown Central Catholic High School, as presented by Principal Mr. Randy Rice, honored our 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients and The Founder's Award on Thursday, June 1 during Baccalaureate Mass at St. Thomas More Church in Allentown.
Distinguished Alumni
Kathleen (Straccia) Matt is a 1975 graduate of Allentown Central Catholic High School. She and her husband Peter celebrate 43 years of marriage and currently reside in Allentown. They have three grown children, all of whom graduated from St. Thomas More and ACCHS; as well as six grandchildren. Kathleen earned a degree in accounting from Villanova University in 1979. After graduating, she worked at Western Electric in Allentown as an accountant.
During her high school basketball career, she was a member of the first girls state basketball championship team in 1973 and is currently a member of the ACCHS Wall of Fame. She continued her basketball career at Villanova where she was the first woman in the school's history to score over 1,000 points. She was an inaugural inductee into the Big 5 Hall of Fame and is also a member of the Villanova Varsity Club Hall of Fame for both Basketball and Volleyball.
In 2002, she was inducted into the Lehigh Valley Basketball Hall of Fame. She is a former coach of Girls JV Basketball at St. Thomas More, a diving coach at Trident Swim Club, and a volunteer with Meals on Wheels and the Cay Galgon Center. Kathleen is a past member of the ACCHS Booster Club and Wall of Fame Committee. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors at Allentown Central Catholic.
Matt Rocco is a 1980 graduate of Allentown Central Catholic. He is the son of two ACCHS alumni — Anthony and Mary Ann (Kober) Rocco — who met during their time at 4th and Chew. While at ACCHS, Matt was involved in several sports and activities including the Viking Basketball and Baseball teams. He served as captain of the basketball team his senior year. Matt was named First Team All-City, All-Conference, and All-District for basketball during both his junior and senior years.
He continued his career as a student-athlete at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA where he played basketball and baseball. He was captain of the basketball team in his senior year. Matt helped to lead the basketball team to two MAC Conference Championships and two NCAA Playoff trips during his four years — while majoring in Economics and Accounting. He has also completed the Master Certificate program in Executive Leadership from Cornell University.
Upon graduating from Dickinson, Matt returned to the Lehigh Valley where he enjoyed a successful 16-year career with Dun and Bradstreet where he was promoted to Vice President by the age of 30. Matt moved to Nacogdoches, TX where in 2003 he was part of an investment team that started Etech Global Services, a multinational outsourcing organization. Etech has grown to over 3,600 employees, providing world-class solutions to Fortune 500 companies from nine contact centers across US, India, and Jamaica. Matt has been President and CEO of Etech since 2013.
Additionally, Matt has co-authored three books and has served on numerous profit and non-profit boards, including the Nacogdoches Independent School District Board of Trustees.
Presently, he serves in the following capacities:
Board member and chairmen of The Glory Gang, a non-profit, non-denominational ministry dedicated to helping at-risk youth.
Executive board member of the Nacogdoches County Boys and Girls Club where in 2020, he was inducted into the Texas Boys and Girls Club Hall of Fame for his service, commitment, and contributions.
Founder and Board member of The Sawmill 6th Man, a non-profit organization that creates opportunities for anyone to support Stephen F. Austin University athletes to use their NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) to make a positive impact on the community by supporting local charities.
Matt is married to his college sweetheart, April. They have raised five children – Nick, Matthew, Jermaine, Jamaal, and Lexie. In December of 2016, Matt was diagnosed with a high mortality disease known as ARDS. He fell into a coma for almost two months. His family was called to the hospital to say their “good-byes.” Despite all the medical and scientific evidence predicting Matt’s death, God chose to perform a miracle. Matt survived and continues to lead Etech today.
Founders Award
Brian A. Sullivan relocated to the Lehigh Valley in 1995 from West Palm Beach, FL with his wife, Amy and daughter, Summer (ACCHS Class of 2013) due to a transfer to Air Products corporate headquarters in Trexlertown. It was then that he began his interest in the mission of ACCHS.
Brian is a 1982 graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Business Administration. Brian is a member of St. Joseph the Worker parish and has volunteered at the parish festival for more than 20 years. He was a past member of the school SRAA and representative to CYO District 2 for seven years. He was appointed to serve on the school board of limited jurisdiction by then pastor, Msgr. Robert J. Wargo, for five years.
Brian is a member of the Notre Dame Club of the Lehigh Valley and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He is a past member of the Coco Foundation Advisory Board, Mary’s Shelter-Bethlehem (Now Cay Galgon Life House) Advisory Board, and the ACCHS golf committee for the school endowment. He was also a impactful resource to the school's development committee. Brian is a volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank and Meals on Wheels. Prior to the pandemic, Brian enjoying working with Mr. Anthony Clifford in the kitchen for the community dinners sponsored by the Central City Project and Mr. Patrick Markham.
With his wife Amy’s untimely passing in April 2012, Brian established a scholarship at both St. Joseph the Worker and St. Thomas More Schools, given annually to a female 8th Grade scholar athlete attending ACCHS. After discussions with then ACCHS chaplain, Fr. Allen Hoffa, Brian became the benefactor for the Day-Maurin Society Scholarship given annually to an ACCHS male and female graduating senior for their involvement in the Central City Project and their commitment to volunteerism.
As part of the Rockne Hall renovations, Brian was the benefactor for the new scorer’s table. This was a way to further honor Amy’s memory at a place she spent many evenings watching Viking Nation sports. Rockne Hall is also where she coached St. Joseph the Worker girls’ CYO volleyball and girls' basketball; and coached girls’ basketball with Jo Kraft and Karen Guman at St. Thomas More. The Central City Project honored Amy by dedicating the community garden in her memory.