Father, son top of Mattituck class 33 years apart

Both father and son say they didn’t specifically aim for the valedictorian honor.

Mr. Montgomery, who graduated in 1981, was the sixth of nine siblings. His father, Phil, worked in the circulation department at Newsday. His mother, Pat, raised the family at home. Neither of his parents attended college.

“I knew I was getting A’s and then somebody told me in the hallway one day that I ranked first and I asked, ‘Ranked first for what?’ ” Mr. Montgomery recalled. “I never heard the word ‘valedictorian’; never heard the word ‘salutatorian.’ I didn’t know they ranked grades. That’s the first time I heard about the terms — and how you have to give a speech.”

Eight months after his valedictory, Mr. Montgomery’s mother died from breast cancer. He said her approach, treating all nine of her children equally, helped shaped him into the person he is today.

“She wouldn’t come out and say it, but I knew she was proud,” he said. “For us, it was always about challenging ourselves — never a competition with someone else. My mom gave us the book smarts; my father gave us the common sense. That’s how they broke it down.”

Other wisdom Mr. Montgomery passed along to Christian and his other children — Carter, 15, and Taylor, 12 — stems from his experience as an undergraduate at the University of California in San Diego, which he attended with his high school sweetheart, Maria Taylor. She graduated from Mattituck High School in 1983 and the couple married while attending law school at Florida State University.

While living in California, Mr. Montgomery said he attended a Friday night political film series that focused on a theme of apartheid. Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke at the school and migrant civil rights leader Cesar Chavez also met with students.

Mr. Montgomery, who’s an attorney, described the experience as eye-opening and made sure he taught his children the importance of exposure to other beliefs and cultures.