Monday, March 11, 2013

St. Martin of Tours Annual Celebration 2013


Please join St. Martin of Tours School and Parish as we celebrate a resilient community and its history on 

Friday, March 22, 2013
at
1350 Old Walt Whitman Road, Melville, New York 11747

Cocktail Hour at 7:00 p.m.
followed by
Dinner and Dancing

Elegant Attire Please
Silent Auction, Raffles, 50/50

Price:  $100.00 Per Person

Please R.S.V.P. by March 8, 2013

For those who cannot attend but wish to contribute a journal ad, raffle item or donation, or to congratulate an honoree, please see our response card - front, back

2013 Honorees

Stewardship
Sister Margaret Mary Miller CSJ

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Distinguished Alumni

Patrick J. Reilly, Class of 1976
USMC, Retired; NYPD, Retired

Colonel Kevin F. Reilly, Class of 1978
U.S. Air Force, Retired
Brian E. Reilly, Class of 1983
Captain, NYPD
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Celebrated Women of the Parish
Gerry Doherty, Class of 1952
Margaret Howard, Class of 1940
Joan M. Kretz
Barbara K. Schubart

Response Card to view and/or print (please click on the image(s) to expand):


Tuesday, March 5, 2013

2013 Annual Celebration Honorees

The following are bios and photos of a few of the Honorees for the 2013 St. Martin of Tours Annual Celebration.  The page will be updated as more information becomes available:


Stewardship:  Sister Margaret Mary Miller CSJ

Distinguished Alumni:  
Patrick J. Reilly, Class of 1976, USMC, Retired; NYPD, Retired
Colonel Kevin F. Reilly, Class of 1978, U.S. Air Force, Retired
Brian E. Reilly, Class of 1983, Captain, NYPD

Celebrated Women of the Parish:  
Gerry Doherty, Class of 1952
Margaret Howard, Class of 1940


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Being Honored for Stewardship:
Sister Margaret Mary Miller CSJ


Sister Marge Miller was born in Brooklyn, New York.  She grew up in Park Slope, attending St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School (where she first thought about becoming a nun) and St. Saviour High School.  After graduating high school she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood.  It was their Sister Formation College that she received a provisional teaching degree with a concentration in math.  

In 1968 she started what came to be an extensive career in teaching.  The congregation sent her to Mary's Nativity School in Flushing where she taught first graders, planned children's liturgies, and was in charge of the Sacrament programs.  Realizing she needed a permanent teaching certificate, she attended Boston College taking theology courses under an education title.  She received a Masters in Education from Boston College in 1975.

In 1975 she ministered in Sacred Heart, North Merrick as an adult education coordinator.  Realizing very quickly that she missed the "little ones" she moved to St. Phillip Neri in Northport where she taught first graders for three years.  She then was stationed in St. Martha's where she once again taught first graders and then opened a pre-kindergarten in 1982.

In 1985 it was on to Sacred Heart Academy, Hempstead, where she taught theology to freshmen and sophomores, was Dean of Students, was part of the Retreat Committee and Catholic League, and was the moderator of the Defenders, a group that participated in mock trials.

In 1991 she was at All Saints Regional Catholic School in Glen Cove as a Religion Specialist, working with students in all the grades, and preparing liturgies.  One young child called her "the God Lady".

Then in 1992 it was back to Brooklyn to teach fourth graders at Immaculate Heart of Mary School.  It was here that Sister Marge assumed the role of assistant principal and also gym teacher to both classes of fourth graders because the school could not afford a gym teacher.

1995 found Sister Marge in Richmond Hill, Queens at Holy Child Jesus School.  She ministered there for ten wonderful years teaching fourth graders, seventh and eighth grade science, working a remedial and enrichment program for 5-8 grade students (a Middle States goal), assistant principal, testing coordinator, and liturgy resource person.

Finally, in 2005 Sister Marge had the good fortune to meet Sister Maureen who offered her a chance to once again minister to first graders.  It is in St. Martin of Tours that she has been privileged to meet the happiest children ever.  Her first graders b ounce down the halls with the brightest smiles on their faces.  The parents are also so generous with their time and talents working tirelessly to benefit our school.  It has been a blessing to finish up a career  (though it is not over) in such a fantastic place.  Praise God!


Celebrated Women of the Parish:  

Gerry Doherty, Class of 1952



Gerry Doherty was born in Brunswick Hospital to Olympia and Arthur Demeroto. She attended St Martin of Tours School and Graduated from Massapequa High School in 1956. She was married to Jim Doherty and has 3 daughters all of whom were raised in and still reside in Amityville. Gerry has 6 grandchildren. She worked for the Amityville Public School District and then the Town of Babylon. She retired from the Town as the Deputy Town Clerk. Gerry was the recipient of the Maxine Postal Humanitarian Award. Since her retirement she has been active with the Amityville Kiwanis Club and is the Chair of their mentoring program. She was a Eucharistic Minister at St. Martin of Tours the church, the same church she was baptized in and still attends. Gerry Doherty shares her life with her children, grandchildren and life-long friend Ed Hudson.

Margaret Howard, Class of 1940




Margaret Webber was the first child in her family to be born on Long Island, at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore on February 20, 1925 and raised in Amityville.  She was the 6th child in a family of 8 children and is one of 41 people in her family to attend St. Martin of Tours elementary school.  Margaret's oldest brother Tom was in the first class that entered St. Martin's school when it was in the basement of the old church.  She attended high school at Queen of the Rosary Academy in North Amityville and married her teenage sweetheart, Lou Howard, on August 15, 1948.  Margaret and Lou raised 7 children (all of whom attended St. Martin's) and has 20 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.  Margaret has lived her entire life in the Friendly Bay Village and loves the water.  She has participated in 5 Cross Bay swims and at the time she last completed the Cross bay Swim, she was the oldest female to do so.  Margaret and Lou still reside at the home on South Bayview Avenue they built 60 years ago!



Distinguished Alumni:

Patrick J. Reilly
President, Lexington Metal Products Corporation
Realtor, RE/MAX
Lieutenant Colonel, USMC (retired)
Lieutenant, NYPD (retired)

Class of 1976




Pat attended Saint Martin of Tours School from 1968 to 1976.  During 8 of the most formative years in his life, he learned not only how to read, write, and add, but learned the core values taught by both religious and lay teachers that prepare an individual for life as a Catholic.  Pat also remembers how “strenuously” Sister John Maureen stressed a ¼ inch margin in your notebook or how Sister Grace Edward could get you to “mind you Ps and Qs” when doing mathematical problems.  As a child and teenager, these didn’t strike him as important, but later in life the discipline they instilled made his first encounter with a Marine Corps drill instructor seem tame by comparison.

After graduation from Saint Martin’s, Pat went on to Saint John the Baptist, graduating in 1980 with many of the students that he had attended Saint Martin’s with.  The 8 years in Saint Martin’s not only prepared him for Saint John the Baptist, but also laid the groundwork for his attendance at the State University of New York, where he graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Management.

Pat was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in 1984 and went on to serve an almost 26 year career both on active duty and in the reserve, having been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel prior to his retirement.  His service included duty stations on the East and West Coasts of the United States, Japan and other parts of Asia, and Saudi Arabia during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  During his Marine Corps career, Pat served in many functional areas as both a staff officer and a commander in logistics, communications, security and recruiting.

Along with his brother Brian, Pat joined the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in 1990 and went on to a rewarding career, having attained the rank of Lieutenant before his retirement.  As a member of the NYPD, Pat served on patrol and in a patrol borough, the Housing Bureau, the Police Academy, the Internal Affairs Bureau, the Detective Bureau and the Counter Terrorism Bureau.

In the years prior to retirement from the NYPD and the USMC in 2007, Pat started Lexington Metal Products Corporation, a small import and export business that specializes in commemorative coins.  Tonight’s coin is an example of his work.  After retiring and moving his family to the Tampa, Florida area, Pat went full time with this business and now sells his products to customers throughout the world.

Pat took the downturn in Florida real estate to become a real estate agent and Realtor, recognizing that there is always opportunity when the market “bounces back.”  Along with his other business, he is a Realtor in the Tampa Bay area, specializing in real estate along the central Gulf Coast of Florida.  The market has “bounced back.”

An elected official in the state of Florida, Pat sits on the board of supervisors for his community.

Pat met his wife Elise 20 years ago and has been married for 19 years.  They have 2 children, Erin and Patrick III (P.J.).  Along with attendance at Saint Martin’s and the faith he learned there, Pat credits his wife with much of his success in life.  She has not only been a partner in marriage, but in both of his businesses, taking an active role in achieving goals they established many years ago.  Additionally, he credits the religious and lay faculty and staff from Saint Martin’s all those years ago for helping him to achieve many of the things in life that he set out to do while living the Christian life his years at Saint Martin’s taught him.

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Colonel Kevin F. Reilly U.S. Air Force (Retired)
Emergency Programs Manager, Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Class of 1978




Kevin attended Saint Martin of Tours from 1970 to 1978. Reflecting on those years, Kevin admits that the school’s uncompromising standards were as mysterious as they were inconvenient. Only years later did it become clear that starting each day with a prayer, perfecting your penmanship, and behaving in class were an introduction to skills so intrinsic to success; an introduction made possible through his mother and father’s insightful decision to invest in Catholic educations.

After graduating Saint Martin’s, Kevin attended Saint John the Baptist High School in West Islip from 1978 to 1982. He then studied Political Science at Saint Joseph’s College and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1986. Upon graduation, Kevin served for eleven years as an officer and pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps. During tours in California, North Carolina, and Texas, Kevin flew as a KC-130 Aircraft Commander and T-44 Advanced Flight Instructor.

In 1997, Kevin and his family relocated back to Long Island, where he transferred to the Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing. During his thirteen years at the unit’s Westhampton Beach airbase, Kevin served as a search and rescue pilot, HC-130 Flight Instructor, Squadron Commander, and Operations Group Commander. He logged over 5800 hours in the cockpit, and was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 2007. During his career, Kevin flew a support mission to Operation Desert Storm, made numerous oversees deployments in support of the Iraqi “no-fly zones,” and was stationed in southern Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He also served as a Commander of search and rescue forces during numerous NASA space shuttle launches. Kevin opted out of the cockpit for the last two years of his military career when he was offered an emergency management position in the Air Force Reserve.    
After joining the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2009, Kevin briefly served as a federal law enforcement officer and physical security specialist. In 2011 Kevin was offered a position at the DHS Plum Island Animal Disease Center where he now serves as the facility’s Emergency Programs Manager. Kevin is also a Lieutenant in his local volunteer fire department, where he serves as a firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician.

Kevin is married to the former Catherine Cavanagh of North Babylon. Kevin and Cathy met in high school and were married in 1992. They have seven children: Matthew (19), Christopher (16), Sarah (14), Gracie (3, deceased 2004), Yao Yao (12), Jack (9), Mei Mei (8).  Gracie, Yao Yao, Jack, and Mei were all adopted from China between 2002 and 2010. Kevin credits Cathy for her boundless energy that made a new life possible for these children. The Reilly family has lived in Southold, New York since 1997.


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Brian E. Reilly
Captain, NYPD
Class of 1983

Brian attended Grades 1 through 8 at Saint Martin's---from 1975 to 1983.  Never an "A+" student, he was nevertheless encouraged (to put it mildly) to apply himself academically, even though he would have rather chatted with the students next to him, as evidenced by numerous "talking notes" sent home to his parents in second grade.  When he took the friendly advice to focus on his studies a bit more, it became apparent to him that he was fortunate to attend a school with such a nurturing and structured environment---an educational experience that not only emphasized the 3 R's, but instilled discipline and and true moral values.  By the time he graduated in 1983, he realized that Saint Martin's had prepared him well to succeed academically and socially in high school, and beyond. 

He went on to attend Saint John the Baptist High School in West Islip (Class of 1987), and then Saint Joseph's College in Brooklyn (Class of 1993), attaining a Bachelor of Science Degree. In 1990, prior to graduating from college, he became a New York City police officer, where he currently remains in service with the department. Early in his career, he began acting in Off-Broadway stage productions in New York City and still performs regularly to this day. Recent credits include Felix Ungar in Neil Simon's The Odd Couple and Jack Worthing in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.
Brian met his wife, Joanne Lee, shortly before 9/11; the two married in 2003 and currently live in Garden City, NY.  Joanne is a physician in private practice in the Nassau County area. (His cholesterol was checked on their second date.)

In addition to acting, Brian began producing shows in New York City in 2010; he founded "CityShow", a theatrical performance company, where he is the Executive Director ( www.cityshow.biz). In the Village of Garden City, he also contributes to the community as a volunteer firefighter with the Garden City Fire Department, where he is currently training to be an EMT. At his job with the NYPD, he is currently working in the fields of emergency management and safety administration for the New York City public school system.
Brian is profoundly grateful for the exceptional education he received at Saint Martin of Tours, and attributes much of his blessings in life to the foundational experience at the school. (Thank you Sr. Grace and Sr. John!)