Mariana Cassidy
The Caritas Award Recipient

I was born the oldest of nine children in West Orange and attended Our Lady of Lourdes Grammar School and West Orange High School.

I entered the Sisters of Charity in 1960 and served until 1970 where I attended the College of St. Elizabeth and graduated in 1965, majoring in elementary education. My teaching experience with the Sisters was in Teaneck, where I was assigned to grades 7 and 8.

In the summer of 1970, after leaving, I taught in the Scotch Plains Fanwood School District as an English and Reading Specialist in the middle school. I then pursued a Master's Degree at William Paterson College in Reading Specialization and became supervisor of reading in the middle school and of the industrial arts in the high school.

I then pursued a Master's Degree at Kean University in Supervision and then served as an Assistant Principal and later as Principal of an elementary school.

I retired in 2007 and began my life as a volunteer for 25 years with the FISH Organization to assist the poor, the disenfranchised, and the elderly. I spent 8 years in the Hope Hospice facility, giving back to the people of Scotch Plains, and then further continued my journey back to the Sisters of Charity at the Villa.

I am still on my journey of hope and care to McAuley Nursing Home and St. Catherine of Caldwell, as well as Maris Stella in Harvey Cedars. My life and expectations are consistent with the Sisters of Charity, who are committed, as I am, in living the Beatitudes of Jesus.