Saturday, March 19, 2011
George O'Connell Award
2010 George E. O’Connell Award Recipient
MARION F. TIERNEY
The George E. O’Connell Award recipient shall be a long-standing member of this Association who has made significant contributions to the fund raising efforts of the parade and/or our Association.
Marion F. Tierney has been volunteering with the St. Patrick’s Committee Parade practically since its inception. Actually, since her husband, Daniel E. Tierney joined the Committee in 1952, Marion has assisted Dan and has worked in the background on many committees.
One interesting fact regarding the Committee was that for years, men organized the parade and various functions with the assistance of their wives. Marion Tierney was helping decorate floats for the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade before women were invited to join the Committee. Through the years, Marion has worked on every committee including the Parade Program Book, Golf, and Coronation Ball Committees.
It was not until 1988 that women were invited to become members of the St. Patrick’s Committee. In 2000, she officially became a member of the Committee to work on the Colleen Reunion and Reception for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Parade. For the last nine years, she helped with selling the $100 Exclusive Raffle for a Delightful Ireland Your Special Way fund raiser. Besides her fundraising duties, she coördinates the floats in the K Mart parking lot on parade day.
A lifelong resident of Holyoke, Marion graduated from Holy Rosary High School in 1940 and the Providence Hospital School of Nursing in 1953. She is a Registered Nurse, certified in Gerontology and she worked for the Federal Government and State Department of Public Health in Boston for twenty years. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Council on Aging in Holyoke.
Marion and Dan, her husband of fifty-five years, have three sons, Neil and wife Sharon, Brian and wife Sharon, and Kevin and wife Mary Kay. They are the proud grandparents of seven grandchildren: Tricia, Kelly, Katie, Michael, Daniel, Sean, and Kevin.
Having been working behind the scenes for many years, Marion and Dan look forward to riding in a convertible and enjoying the parade, Sunday, March 21, 2010.