Fifty years later, Manthurathil is the medical director for the Nuclear Medicine and PET Department at Kettering Medical Center — and he is known as Dr. Joseph Mantil.
“When they would page me, even I couldn’t understand my name,” he said.
But, regardless of how much has changed in his life, the Washington Twp. resident still cherishes and honors his past.
On Dec. 30, Mantil and his four siblings were on hand for the inauguration of St. George’s Catholic High School — the school in India they had rebuilt in honor of their late father, Chacko Manthurathil.
“My father had been the first headmaster of the school,” said Mantil, adding that he and his siblings all graduated from St. George’s.
A few years ago, while visiting his home at the southwestern tip of India, Mantil and his family saw that their former school was falling apart.
“Our philosophy was that our father taught us that you should give back to your community,” Mantil said. “We saw a need, and we all felt like we had a little bit of money so we should do it.”
Not long after, the 80-year-old school was razed, and the family built a school roughly five times its size on the property. The school name is the same, but the building is named for their father, who died in 1995.
“My sister, Susan Pachikira, really was instrumental in the school being built,” said Mantil, noting that she still lives there and could spearhead their efforts.
Mantil also credited his younger brother, George, who lives in Dallas, with getting things in place.
“Building a school is not as easy as one thinks,” he said. “My brother had only been (in the U.S.) for 20 years, so he still spoke (the language) fluently, could deal with the politics, the contractors, etc.”
Siblings James and Beatrice also were a part of the effort, which took more than two years to complete.
Students in grades five through 12 attend St. George’s, and the school is considered semi-private.
“It is supported by the state, but run by the Catholic church,” he said of the school, which is located in the state of Kerala. “There is no tuition.”
Mantil noted that school day runs from about 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but if students want to learn the Catechism, they attend for an extra hour.
“The religion is separate,” he said, adding that most of the faculty is Catholic.
Although Mantil said India is less than 5 percent Christian, Kerala is 35 percent Christian. He said those Christians are predominantly Catholic.
Structurally, the school is built almost like schools in the U.S., he said.
“Everybody wants to emulate this school,” he said of the response in India.
The school has an auditorium/gymnasium that seats 1,500, a library, air-conditioning in select areas, fans in the classrooms, 20 computers with broadband connection and even individual desks.
“We studied on benches (when I was there),” he said. “And there weren’t even fans.”
Mantil said the total cost of the school was $750,000, although the building was just $500,000.
“(The $750,000) is including furniture and a water tank, since the students used to use an outhouse,” Mantil said.
Before the school was renovated, it had 550 students. This year, Mantil said there are 750.
“The headmaster just wrote and said that last year, the students had a 100 percent passage rate on the national exam,” said Mantil, adding that the feat was unprecedented.
“When I took it, 35 percent of the students passed.”
The school is designed to grow and, at maximum capacity, will be able to hold 1,500 students.
It held its first classes with the start of the new school year June 1.
The inauguration of the school was attended by education and state dignitaries, members of Mantil’s family and friends, and the entire population of the village.
“There are about 4,000 to 5,000 people,” Mantil said. “And they all came out for the event.”
Mantil said the whole experience has been very gratifying.
“This experience has probably been more good for us than for the students — I don’t know,” Mantil said with a laugh.
“It makes you feel really good to help somebody.”
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