The 2018 Irish Legends Gala will be held at Via Veneto in Bridgeport on Saturday, March 24. The event is Notre Dame & St. Mary’s version of a hall of fame and honorees are chosen for significant contribution to the school and/or community and/or outstanding achievement. The event started in 2004 and has honored many deserving individuals. It has helped build many great relationships with school constituents and raised a significant amount of money which benefits both Notre Dame & St. Mary’s. This year’s honorees are Jill Oliverio Florio, Cookie & Toni Cann Bonasso, Sarah Julian Schneider, Sondra Granett Colombo, and Irene Keeley. Sponsorship/reservation information for the event can be found at notredamewv.org.

 

Jill Oliverio Florio '80

Jill Oliverio Florio resides in Bridgeport with her husband Mike and their son Alex. “Irish blood” runs deep in Jill’s family. Her Father, Joseph E. Oliverio, Jr., a 2007 Irish Legend, graduated from St. Mary’s High School in 1955 and her Mother, Jeanne Peasak Oliverio, graduated from Notre Dame in 1957 as the Salutatorian of her class. Not only did Jill’s siblings -Becky, Joey, and Michael- graduate from Notre Dame, all of her maternal and paternal aunts and uncles did as well. Jill and Mike’s son Alex graduated from Notre Dame in 2015. Some of Jill’s most memorable moments at Notre Dame include serving as head cheerleader and being selected as the Homecoming Queen.  She also was the Valedictorian of her graduating class. Jill graduated summa cum laude from Fairmont State College before attending the WVU College of Law where she was selected to the West Virginia Law Review. She graduated second in her law school class of 1990 and consequently was inducted into the Order of the Coif. Additionally, she was awarded the Patrick Duffy Koontz award for leadership, scholarship, and academic achievement. Upon graduating from law school, Jill joined the law firm of Eckert Seamans, Cherin & Mellott in Pittsburgh where she was a member of the PA State Bar Association.  In 1993, she returned to the area and joined Steptoe & Johnson where she focused her practice in the area of labor and employment law as a member of the WV and Harrison County Bar Associations. Jill served on the Board of Directors for United Summit Center for several years. She was also a member of the Board of Directors for the United Health Foundation as well as a member of its community liaison committee. She is a former member of the Harrison County Catholic Schools Mission Advancement Committee and the Leadership Committee for the Harrison County United Way. Jill is a former member of Immaculate Conception Church where she served as a cantor and a current member of All Saints.

 

Cookie & Toni Cann Bonasso '72 & '73

Toni is the daughter of Carmine Cann, Sr. (St. Mary’s Class of 1948) and the late Florence Chico Cann. She is one of seven siblings who graduated from Notre Dame. All seven siblings graduated from WVU following in the footsteps of her father (WVU Law School 1954). She graduated from WVU School of Nursing (1977) and has been working for Ohio Health Hospital System on a contingent basis for the last 29 years. In the community, Toni is a member of St. Ann’s Women’s Auxiliary Council, a longtime volunteer for both the Dublin Irish Festival and the Columbus Association for the Advancement of the Performing Arts (CAPA). Louis, everybody calls him Cookie, attended Fairmont State College and found his professional calling in the Oil & Gas Industry. Starting as a Landman and working his way into purchasing and marketing of natural gas and oil predominantly in the Appalachian Basin for the better part of 35 years ending in 2014. Cookie was known for his ability to create “win win” situations for the clients he worked with. He is a Charter Member and Past Grand Knight of  K of C Council 10863.Toni and Cookie reside in Dublin, OH (a suburb of Columbus) since 1988.They are the parents of three children (Louis Jr., Florence Barnes and Annette Madsen). They are the proud grandparents of four grandchildren. They are parishioners of St. Brigid of Kildare Church where Toni volunteers for various committees including the Social Action Committee, Meals on Wheels and Holy Casseroles. They are honored to be chosen as Irish Legends.

 

Sarah Julian Schneider '63

Sarah Julian Schneider of Pittsburgh has been married to Charles J. Schneider III for 48 years. They have two children Jeffrey and Jeanne Elder, both teachers, and six grandchildren. Sarah is the daughter of the late John D. Julian, a Clarksburg CPA, and the late Theresa Cavallaro Julian Morini. She has one sister the late Kathleen Julian Mulholland ‘65. Sarah attended St. Mary’s and Notre Dame graduating as class valedictorian. She studied journalism at Duquesne University where she was editor-in-chief of the Duquesne DUKE. Her first job was as public relations director at St. Margaret Hospital in Pittsburgh. Her professional life included public relations for two school districts, a local township, and the Pittsburgh Sisters of Mercy. As president of Women in Communications, Inc.-Pittsburgh, Sarah and a colleague started Wordcrafters, Inc. She later took over the company doing both PR and corporate training. In 1990 son Jeff asked her to join him on their parish’s work camp trip to Kentucky to repair homes. The next year husband Charlie and daughter Jeanne joined the crew. Citing her organizational skills, her pastor asked her to develop a community outreach coordinator position. For 16+ years, she led summer work camps in Preston County, WV as well as groups to work with Habitat for Humanity in three Pennsylvania counties. She coordinated outreach to an international relief agency, food banks, shelters, and other organizations serving the poor. When she retired in 2007, Sarah began taking volunteers to work on recovery after Hurricane Katrina, an Alabama tornado, and Hurricane Sandy. She and her husband have been middle school mentors in a Pittsburgh Public School. They continue as homeowner care visitors with the Pittsburgh Project. Sarah writes life histories of residents at the Vincentian Home. She is a Eucharistic Minister at St. John Neumann and organizes volunteers for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

 

Sondra Granett Colombo '59

Sondra Granett Colombo graduated from Notre Dame High School and holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a minor in English from the University of  Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has been an educator for many years, including nine at the United Technical Center teaching G.E.D. classes to young adults in the tri-county area, and over twenty five in the Catholic school system. Sondra also tutored at the Clarksburg Housing Authority After-School Program at Laurel Lanes. In 2016, she received the Marshall University Excellence in Education Award. She currently teaches English and reading at Notre Dame High School. While her children were young, Sondra served as a board member for the Clarksburg League for Service. She is the daughter of the late B.G. and Angeline Granett. She has a brother Sam Granett who graduated from Notre Dame and his wife, Barbara, and a sister, the late Kathryn Bebe Gonsorcik Duke. She is married to Rudolph Colombo and has two children, Rudy Colombo (Beverley) and Dr. Amy Colombo who both graduated from Notre Dame. She has four grandchildren - B.G., Annie, Ella, and Mary Quinn.

 

Irene Keeley (Honorary)

United States District Judge Irene M. Keeley of Clarksburg, WV, was born in Brooklyn, NY, and, together with her parents and four siblings, moved to the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., where her father was an attorney in the Department of Justice. She received her undergraduate degree from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland in Baltimore, MD, in 1965, and a Masters Degree from WVU in 1979. Before attending law school, she was a secondary education teacher in Harrison County. She received her Juris Doctorate degree from the WVU College of Law in 1980, where she was an Associate Editor of the West Virginia Law Review and a member of the Moot Court Board. She and her husband Jack live in Clarksburg, where they raised three daughters, Reenie, Kate and Meaghan. They are the proud grandparents of two granddaughters and two grandsons. From 1980-1992, she practiced law with Steptoe & Johnson in the areas of litigation and health care. She was appointed as Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia by President George H. W. Bush on August 12, 1992. She served as Chief Judge of the Northern District from March 2001 to March 2008. Judge Keeley is a member of the American Bar Association, WV State Bar, and the WV Bar Association. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a Fellow of the WV Bar Foundation. She is a past chair of the ABA National Conference of Federal Trial Judges. From 2005 to 2007, she served as President of the Federal Judges Association. Later, she served as Chair of the Committee on Criminal Law of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 2013 to 2016. Currently, she is a member of the Budget Committee of the Judicial Conference. She is a former Chair of the Board of Advisors of WVU. In 2003, she was honored with the Order of Vandalia from WVU, and in 2005 she received the Justicia Officium Award from the WVU College of Law.