The Mullaney family, four generations deep and about 75 members strong, came to campus last spring to celebrate a new endowed scholarship in memory of Marie “Helene” Mullaney.

Her husband, Richard Mullaney ‘47, a retired industrial chemist from Bristol, Conn., graduated from the college in three years. He was so inspired by the lessons of faith and understanding taught to him as a student that the decision to honor his late wife through his alma mater came easily.

The couple met at a dance in 1946 when Helene was a nursing student at Sacred Heart School (now Catholic Medical Center) in Manchester, N.H. Due to family and financial circumstances, however, she was unable to complete her degree.

Richard says The Marie Helene Henrietta Lavoie Mullaney Memorial Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to a nursing student(s). “She was so keen on becoming a nurse,” he says, adding that several of his family members are nurses. “This is for her. In a sense, we are holding hands again.”

Mullaney is the patriarch of the family, which includes 11 children, 25 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. The crew snaps to attention when he gathers them for a photo to mark his gift to the college. The photographer squeezes them into the frame, and their smiles come alive.

“This means a great deal to me,” he says. “The students who receive this scholarship will look forward to a rewarding career in a critical profession. It gives me great pleasure to know that in a sense it carries out the dreams of my dear wife through others.”