JOHN LIPTAK
Class of 2022
INSTRUCTOR / MENTOR
Co-Architect of our “TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE”
Cadet Years: Percussion Instructor (1939-1952)
HIS CADET STORY:
John Liptak began his career with the Holy Name Cadets around 1939, when then Corps Managers Eugene Boyle and Marinus Burgs brought him and Joe Huber into the Corps. John was our primary (and only) Drum Instructor and Joe Huber came in as our Bugle and Marching Instructor. Thus began a ten-year collaboration with Mr. Huber calling the shots and Mr. Liptak supporting him and the program throughout the years.
The team of Huber and Liptak as instructors had quickly proven to be a formidable asset for the Cadets during those initial years. As instructors tend to be, Mr. Huber and Mr. Liptak were far more competitive and demanding. It was under Mr. Huber, beginning in 1940, that the Cadets' reputation for demanding discipline was established. Mr. Huber was a perfectionist, and he demanded 100% effort 100% of the time. Mr. Liptak was just as demanding of the drum line. To the boys in the Corps, it seemed like Mr. Huber was everywhere and saw everything, and whatever may have missed his watchful eye was quickly picked up by Mr. Liptak. It proved to be a formula for success that would serve the Corps very well.
While Mr. Huber was the man, the unquestioned authority figure of the Cadets, Mr. Liptak was right there supporting him every step of the way and helping to shape the drum line into a national caliber contender. Mr. Huber shaped the program. He envisioned where he wanted the Corps to go as an organization and how to achieve the goals he established. In his first year as Director, Mr. Huber together with Mr. Liptak, brought us our first American Legion National Championship win in Boston, Massachusetts (1940).
Then, not too long afterwards, everything came crashing down. The United States entered World War II in December of 1941. A vast number of Cadets were of enlistment age, and like most of their contemporaries joined the armed services. Corps disbanded in wholesale numbers. Mr. Huber was faced with a difficult decision. He met with John Liptak and the remaining Cadets who were still too young to enlist. There were only three options; disband, go inactive for the duration of the war, or continue as best they could with a reduced program. It was the boys in the Corps that pushed the hardest for the third option. They wanted their friends and fellow Cadets, now scattered all over the world, to know that when they returned the Corps would be ready to welcome them back. It was during this period that the final words of the Holy Name Hymn took on special meaning to the Cadets. "For Holy Name shall always be. . ." meant that the Cadets remaining behind were making a solemn vow to the Cadets fighting for their Country that the Corps would endure waiting for their return. It was a promise that was not broken.
Following the end of the war many of the junior corps that Holy Name had competed against reorganized as senior corps. Holy Name considered that option as well, but after a brief period of reflection and experimentation, decided to remain a junior corp. And so, under the leadership of Joe Huber, with John Liptak at his side, the Corps commenced a rebuilding program, lasting from 1946-48.
The years 1948-49-50 will always be remembered as a truly unique and proud period in the history of the Cadets. These were the years when Holy Name became more than a corps . . . we became a legend; and Joe Huber with the support of John Liptak were the men who created the legend.
While Mr. Huber died prematurely and unexpectedly in the Spring of 1950, Mr. Liptak continued the push during the season with new Corps Manager William “Chief” Kemmerer, Sr., and helped the Corps take the historical 1950 transcontinental tour to Los Angeles, California to defend their American Legion National Title. The trip was quite successful and ended with a win at the national championship show, the first 3-peat in drum corps history (1948, 49 and 50), which was an unprecedented accomplishment at the time. The combination of Joe Huber and John Liptak proved to be a wonderful collaboration that helped to create and mold our traditional criteria of what it takes to be a Cadet.
