A TRIBUTE TO JEN MARR
The year was 2012. The 7th grade parents were responsible for hosting the 8th grade graduation and were tasked with coming up with a theme for the event. New York, Beach and Fiesta themes had been done. Catchy taglines wishing the 8th graders "luck" were being tossed around and after some brainstorming, the theme was chosen: a Casino Night!
Colleen Tierney, Jen Marr's sister, was one of those 7th grade moms. She worked with the others, creating crafty and thoughtful props that would turn the gym into a Casino for the night. They spray-painted square boxes, turning them into dice. A huge "Vegas-style" welcome sign was constructed and made to accomodate real light bulbs. One mom had noticed perfectly round styrofoam discs being thrown out at a local Blockbuster Video and decided they would make the perfect casino chip decor!
When the graduation was over, Colleen looked around at all the unique decorations they had worked so hard to make and decided it was all just too good to throw away. She knew that the school storage areas wouldn't accommodate decor like this at the time, so she brought the pieces home and stored them in her basement...with no intention for their future use.
The next year, Jen was sitting at a Home and School meeting, excitedly brainstorming with the group about how to best raise funding. Jen was always up for a challenge and always eager to help. She threw out the idea of an auction, referencing that high schools were having them successfully, and believed QAS could do the same. It was agreed that QAS would try it's first ever auction night. Now, they needed a theme.
Jen, who had a niche for pulling together resources, contacted her brother-in-law, who owned a casino party company and pulled out all the incredible casino decor that sat in her sister's basement. The theme was decided and the first ever QAS Casino & Auction Night was born.
Over the years, Jen would add some more casino-themed items along the way, but some of the best pieces wonderfully displayed each year, such as the huge QAS Casino Night entrance sign and the large dice and chips, are from that original graduation in 2012.
Jen chaired the event for eight years, growing it continuously to the success that it is today. She artfully sought out the talents of QAS parishioners and matched them to the needs of the event. The excitement in her voice when she brainstormed ideas was inspiring and when the hectic weeks leading up to the event came, she calmly responded not to worry, "it all comes together". Jen had said on many occasions, one of her favorite things about chairing the QAS Casino and Auction Night was that she got to meet so many people and make so many friends. Everything Jen did, she did with joy.
Jen leaves behind a legacy of rich and meaningful achievements and life lessons that created a roadmap to guide us to make our lives more fruitful and our community stronger and more caring.
Jen was led by a few simple, yet powerful principles:
1) One person can make a difference, but a team can make a miracle;
2) Life will always be complicated; learn to be happy right now;
3) Doing the right thing for the right reason will always produce good things;
4) Never say never; it's always possible;
5) It doesn't need to be perfect to be meaningful;
6) Let love and faith drive everything you do, because those pretty much solve anything;
7) Leave the dishes in the sink. Spend your time making memories and be the parent you want them to remember.
These are amazing truths to live by, and with this foundation, Jen was able to make a huge impact and significant contributions to our community and our school.
Since 2013, Jen Marr led the QAS Casino & Auction Night, raising over $340,000 that has funded multiple important school projects and remodeled several classrooms. But more importantly, she helped bring people together, taught us the importance of community, faith, and kindness and showed all of us how to truly live.
In Loving Memory of Jen Marr