Fort Smith man credits success to all-boys Subiaco Academy

— Fort Smith businessman Leo Anhalt credits his success in life to his unique high school years at an all-boys academy among Benedictine monks.

In turn, the academy credits Anhalt with tireless service to his community, church and alma mater for decades.

“He graduated from the academy two years before I did, so I’ve known him for 50 years,” said Brother Ephrem O’Bryan, a Benedictine monk at Subiaco Academy in Logan County. “He’s a well-respected - and appreciated - helper in many ways. His company has done a lot for our school and abbey with help for various building projects here.”

The Subiaco Alumni Association honored Anhalt, 72, founder and president of general contracting company SSi Inc. of Fort Smith, as a distinguished alumnus earlier thismonth.

The academy for young men in grades 7-12 is surrounded by 1,800 acres of farmland on the grounds of Subiaco Abbey. Anhalt, a 1958 graduate, grew up in the shadows of the abbey in New Blaine.

“I went to elementary school and was taught by the Benedictine nuns,” he said. “When I finished ... of course I wanted to go to Subiaco. They naturally charge a tuition there. The only way I could go was to earn the money myself.”

At that young age, Anhalt spent two years raising and selling livestock for his tuition expense, he said.

Subiaco Academy is staffed by Benedictine monks, in addition to laymen.

O’Bryan said the school, founded in 1887, averages 180 students, both local and international.

“The goal of the school is to provide a good, Catholic education to boys,” he said.

Anhalt says that education has followed him every step since.

“As I got older and into the real world, so to speak, I began to realize what a deal I had when I went through school and what it meant to me having grown up and educated in the Benedictine environment,” Anhalt said. “For a number of years now, I’ve been doing my best to give back to those people and to the monastery there because of what it did for me.It’s a big part of my life, kind of like a second family.”

Anhalt began his postschool career as an apprentice electrician in Fort Smith.

“Then a couple of years later, I started in the building business,” he said.

His own company, specializing in commercial and industrial construction, was created in 1969. Since then, Anhalt has been a leader in his field, his community and his church.

“Over the years, a lot of the things I’ve done in the leadership area are because that’s instilled in you at the academy,” Anhalt said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 06/23/2012

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