KINGSTON, R.I. – May 30, 2013 – It started as an idea that came out of URI President David M. Dooley’s campus community meeting in 2011.
Cynthia Faria, a coordinator in the office of Property and Support Services, sent the president an email through now retired Vice President of Advancement Robert Beagle, suggesting the University have a formal program for recognizing long-term employees.
Three years later that idea has become a reality, as 90 retirees with 40 or more years of service to URI will be inducted into the Lifetime Service Society Monday, June 10 at 10 a.m. outside the Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons.
During the function on the library patio, the retirees will be presented with a framed plaque. Commemorative bricks inscribed with their names and number of years will be installed in the patio. The bricks will eventually be moved to a section of Main Street, a project involving extension of the Dieter Hammerschlag Mall, which now extends from the library to the Multicultural Center. The recognition program is free and open to the public.
As employees retire from URI with 40 or more years, they will be able to sign a form allowing their name to be inscribed on a brick, and placed on the campus. Each June there will be a ceremony for those retirees and their families. Also, future nominations may be made through the URI’s Human Resources Office.
“This may have been my big idea, but our committee made it bigger and better,” Faria said. “Everyone on the committee has worked long and hard to make this a special honor for faculty and staff who have given so much to the University.”
“One characteristic of an outstanding organization is its commitment to people,” Beagle said. “The Lifetime Service Society is an important reflection of URI, as it says that the University respects and appreciates employees who have devoted their careers to it. The bricks will be a forever visible reminder of this.”
The committee, which met for the first time in September 2011, decided to limit recognition to those who served 40 years at URI, not at any other state agency. Members agreed that 40 years represented a “lifetime of service. ”The group held its first meeting with Dooley in June 2012.
“We are inviting all living retirees and relatives of those who have passed away to participate in the ceremonies,” Faria said.
Committee member Laura Kenerson, director of personnel services, was charged with contacting the retirees or their families.
“I received several letters and comments back expressing great appreciation for being honored in this way,” Kenerson said. “You never know how meaningful gestures like the Lifetime Service Society can be to people with whom we have worked for so many years. Our honorees have heartfelt feelings for URI, and it is wonderful that the University is able to recognize these individuals.”
In addition to Faria and Kenerson, the committee members are: Bob Beagle, chair, Katherine Faella, senior technology programmer; Michael Rice, professor of fisheries, animals and veterinary science; Sarina Rodrigues, associate library professor; Diane Soule, university architect, Jerome Sidio, director of facilities services and Sheleen Clarke, director of Lands and Grounds.
The honorees are:
George Adams (posthumous)
Sona Aronian, Kingston
Nadine L. Baer, Clinton, Mass.
John Barlow (posthumous)
Stanley M. Barnett, Wakefield
Shirley H. Barney, West Kingston
Allan Berman (posthumous)
Henry B. Biller, Warwick
Frank H. Bills (posthumous)
Christopher W. Brown, Saunderstown
Harold Browning (posthumous)
Howland Burdick (posthumous)
J. Allan Cain, Kingston
Viola B. Card, Wakefield
Everett P. Christopher (posthumous)
Dorothy E. Clare, Warwick
William Croasdale, Kingston
Jeannette E. Crooker (posthumous)
Frank J. DeLuise, Wakefield
Dorothy F. Donnelly, Providence
Agnes G. Doody, Wakefield
Kathleen A. Durand, North Kingstown
Wayne K. Durfee, Saunderstown
Wilfred P. Dvorak, Kingston
Mabel DeWitt Eldred (posthumous)
William R. Ferrante, Saunderstown
Howard H. Foster, Warwick
John M. Grandin, Wakefield
Lawrence C. Grebstein, Kingston
Thomas A. Grigalunas, Wakefield
Edward A. Grove, Saunderstown
Robert S. Haas, Kingston
Warren M. Hagist, Saunderstown
R. Choudary Hanumara, Kingston
Frank H. Heppner, Wakefield
O. Don Hermes, Wakefield
Kerwin E. Hyland, Exeter, N.H.
Albert L. Kenyon, West Warwick
M. Thelma Kenyon, Narragansett
Alfred G. Killilea, Kingston
Thomas J. Kim, Wakefield
Maury N. Klein, Saunderstown
William C. Klenk, Wakefield
Harold N. Knickle, Warwick
James G. Kowalski, Narragansett
Gerasimos Ladas, Wakefield
Joan M. Lausier, Wakefield
Helen M. Leeming, North Kingstown
Stephen V. Letcher, Kingston
James T. Lewis, Peace Dale
Kenneth T. Mars Jr. (posthumous)
W. Lynn McKinney, Narragansett
Shashanka S. Mitra (posthumous)
Wilfred H. Nelson, Kingston
Richard T. Neuse, Kingston
Theresa H. Newton (posthumous)
Scott W. Nixon (posthumous)
Jan A. Northby, Kingston
John L. O’Leary, Wakefield
Stephen B. Olsen, Wakefield
William T. O’Malley (posthumous)
Martha S. Patnoad, Narragansett
Tommaso Pitassi, Narragansett
Nancy A. Potter, West Kingston
William Henry Potter (posthumous)
Dianne L. Preble, North Kingstown
Richard F. Purnell, Providence
Herbert “Priday” Rawdon (posthumous)
Kenneth H. Rogers, West Kingston
Vincent C. Rose, Kingston
Stephen D. Schwarz, Kingston
Lawrence W. Sherman, Peace Dale
Roger Allen Sherman (posthumous)
Albert Silverstein, Pawtucket
James L. Starkey, Miramar Lakes, Fla.
Arthur B. Stein, Wakefield
Sharon H. Strom, Narragansett
E. R. Suryanarayan, Kingston
Frederick L. Test, Springfield, Mo.
Gary J. Thurston, Wakefield
Earl J. Travers, Saunderstown
Lucy Commins Tucker (posthumous)
Nancy A. Tucker, Wakefield
Donald W. Tufts (posthumous)
Gerry S. Tyler, Saunderstown
Bruno M. Vittimberga (posthumous)
Robert G. Weisbord, Kingston
John F. Wills III, (posthumous)
Donald J. Zeyl, Kingston
Norman L. Zucker, Kingston