American Irish Leader Kenneth Egan Named Grand Marshal

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Family & community service are at the center of this year’s honorees. Our Grand Marshal Kenneth Egan said, “Nothing would be possible without the love of my family and friends. Thank you all for sharing in this great day to be Irish.” At our association meetings, while offering to help in every way, Ken frequently reminds us that he considers us family! Annually he takes on the challenging job of bringing pipe & drum bands & other entertainment groups to our parade. He works on this year-round as there are many other competing parades that occur the same day as ours & near St. Patrick’s Day.

Grand Marshal Egan was raised in the Menlo Park Terrace section of Woodbridge & traces his Irish roots to Nenagh, a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. He attended Saint Cecilia’s Roman Catholic School & Woodbridge HS where he met his wife Nancy Jean. They were blessed with three children. Patrick, Melissa (called to Heaven in 2015) & Danielle (son in law Joseph). As well as grandchildren Richard, Annabelle & Giuseppe Renato.

Like his father & brother before him & his son after him he enlisted in the US Navy & the Naval Reserves. Ken then became the youngest Senior Chief Stationary Engineer in the history of NY. As part of his job he acted as a First Responder during both the ‘94 WTC attack & on 9/11. In our Assn, Ken is a Director & Past President, Parade Chair & Irish Man of the Year. He is the Faithful Navigator of the Woodbridge K of C, Fourth Degree and Council 857. Ken is also a Eucharistic Minister at Our Lady of Peace.

Mary Natale (White), our Irish Lady of the Year, is known as Mrs. White by students who were fortunate to have her as their 1st grade teacher at Mawbey St. (Teacher of the Year). She has two daughters, Kerri Tagliareni (son-in-law Vincent) & Allison White. Mary cherishes her two beautiful granddaughters Sophia and Olivia and her fur baby Molly. A past Parade Chair, Mary currently heads our Justin McCarthy Scholarship Committee. She also was the cheerleading coach at JFK High School, past President of Kennedy Park School PTA involved with Iselin Giants Cheerleading & Iselin Athletic Association-Softball, JFK Mustang Club & Iselin Middle School PTO.

Jim McFadden, our Irish Man of the Year, & Kathy his wife of 48 yrs., reside in Colonia. Their children are James (wife Nicole), Aileen (partner Christopher) & Thomas (wife Nicole). Grandchildren Gaby, Aly & Finn are constant sources of love, laughter & joy in his life. A retired Principal for the Carteret BOE, Jim served as Girls Basketball Coach, Girls Gymnastics Coach & Track Coach. He Chaired both the 2021 Parade & 1st Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day Celebration. He is past President of the Carteret Honorary P.B.A., a past Grand Knight & Treasurer of the Carteret Knights of Columbus & served as Faithful Navigator & Comptroller for the Fourth Degree.

Victoria Gomez is this year’s Miss American Irish. Victoria’s grandparents are Assn members Connie (from County Donegal) and Fran O’Donnell. Victoria graduated from Colonia High where she was inducted into Honor Societies (National, Quill & Scroll and Spanish) & was in the color guard. One of her proudest achievements in high school was being awarded a top honor of having nearly 500 hours of community service. Many of those hours were spent at Hand in Hand dances for our community’s special adults. Victoria is currently a student at Kean University.

Brittany Bader, our Lady in Waiting graduated from Woodbridge High. She is the niece of Assn members Ken & Janine Gardner. She is a freshman at The College of New Jersey. At Woodbridge HS, Brittany was a Senior Class Officer, Captain of the soccer team & a member of the track team. Inducted into Honor Societies (National, Spanish, Math, Science & Social Studies). Brittany’s done community service at St. James Church & with the American Irish.

The Woodbridge American Irish Association is a civic organization that meets monthly, sponsors the Justin McCarthy Scholarship, maintains the Charlie Shaughnessy Park, visits our Menlo Park Veterans Home, tools around town, puts up handicap ramps etc.

Our Parade Chair for both 2022 & 2023 is Ben Campbell who said, “Our club’s parade committee includes some of the most dedicated and resourceful people and I am so happy to work with this team.”

The parade is funded with ads from local businesses & donations. To participate please go to Amerirish.com. Like us on Facebook at American Irish Association of Woodbridge.

This year’s parade is March 12th at 1:30 pm. It steps off from Woodbridge High School (travels down Freeman St to Linden Ave. to Green St. to Amboy Ave / Rt 35 to Main St.) & ends at Town Hall.

Ken Gardner
Publicity Chair
American Irish Assn of Woodbridge

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