As mentioned last week, we are featuring one of our 2019 Laker Legends each week in
Laker Life. They will be honored at the Laker Legends Scholarship Gala on March 16. This year’s awardees are
Sheila Dwyer-Grove ’75, who will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award for Service;
Barbara Brairton, our Honorary Alumna;
Conrad Kubaney ’10, the Young Alumnus Award; and
Marquette Savings Bank, the Laker Legends Philanthropy Award.
Today we feature
Barbara Brairton, Honorary Alumna '19.
After graduating from Mercyhurst University with a BA in English and secondary education, Barbara’s first assignment was teaching at Mercyhurst Prep. She had attended Our Lady of Mercy High School in Rochester, NY, and found the same charism at MPS that she had experienced in high school.
Switching gears after four years, she became the financial aid director at Mercyhurst University, and during that same period, she earned a master’s in guidance and counseling from John Carroll University. Her background in education, guidance, and administrative duties led her to several positions that honed her talents and diversified her career. Retirement came in 2004 after a 15-year stint as guidance counselor at the North East School District, but to this day, she has not retired from a lifetime commitment to community service.
Barbara has served on the Board of Trustees at Villa Maria Academy, North East Community Scholarship Program (vice president), and Mercyhurst Preparatory School. She has delivered meals for Meals on Wheels since 2012 and continues today. She is currently vice president of the Board of Directors for Meals on Wheels, Erie, and an advisory Board member for the House of Mercy.
She stated, “Having worked in several different schools throughout my career, I can honestly say that at MPS, there was a palpable atmosphere of care and concern for the students that I found nowhere else. I truly believe this spirit of Mercy is what formed the foundation of my own life, both spiritually and intellectually.”
Thank you to our Laker Legends Scholarship Gala Sponsors
Laker Legacy
Jim & Kathy Dammeyer, Honorary '15
Marquette Savings Bank
Sisters of Mercy Community of New York & Pennsylvania West
UPMC Health Plan
Green and White
Anonymous
Kim Kelly Hill '76
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
Metz Culinary Management
Julia DeMarco '70 and Joseph Persinger
Pennsylvania International Academy
Luck of the Irish
Erie Day School & Dr. Karen Tyler
Forte Marketing
Marilyn Agresti Renkes '59
Hosts
Annette & Michael Ahrens
Jay & Ruth Alberstadt
Alyson Amendola '89 & Matthew Cummings
Greg & Trina Baldwin
John & Julia Bongiovanni
Carl & Nicole Brugger
Dan '78 & Annette Vacanti Cullen '80
Ed & Patty Curtin
Mary Ellen Dahlkemper '67 & Ed Lesser
Joe & Lisa Dobrich
Alice Edwards, Ph.D.
Lindsay Cox Frank '08 & Thomas Frank
Dr. David & Lori Kruszewski
Ronald J. Kunco & Jessica Horan-Kunco '89
Atty. Gery & Lisa Nietupski
Janet & Chuck Peters
Jon '86 & Susan Niland Reddinger '89
Judy Zimmerman '80 & Carmen Rosatti
Chris & Maryellen Sorce
Dave & Kelly Stolar
Nels & Karen White
Dan & Sue Zimmerman
For information and reservations go to
mpslakers.com/gala.
