SALEM — The St. Mary’s Hall of Fame welcomed eight new members Thursday in a ceremony at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem.
The school also honored James Baldini ’66 with the Cardinal Cushing Award, presented to a vigorous champion of Catholic education whose personal and professional life mirror St. Mary’s mission.
In a video introducing Baldini, Tom Iarrobino ’62 called him “humble, shy, humorous, self-deprecating and passionate,” especially when it comes to supporting his alma mater.
Gov. Charlie Baker and his wife, Lauren, received the William F. Connell Service Award, presented to individuals who provide consistent and exemplary service. The award was presented by Connell’s sons, Bill and Terence.
St. Mary’s Board Chair William Mosakowski thanked the governor for encouraging schools such as St. Mary’s to remain open during the pandemic and providing critical state funding to help them do so.
“They made our Commonwealth better, fairer, stronger and a better place to live,” Mosakowski said of the Bakers.
“This place builds great lives on behalf of great people and a great community,” Gov. Baker told the more than 300 in attendance. “I can’t imagine the North Shore without St. Mary’s smack in the middle of it for at least another 100 years.”
Student speakers were Emely Rodriguez ’22 and John Marks ’23. Rodriguez spoke about the challenges of transferring to St. Mary’s while she was in high school and how she was welcomed, while Marks talked about being a third-generation Spartan and rebounding from a serious injury, with the support of coaches and teammates, to become an all-league football player. Baker acknowledged both students in his remarks.
Hall of Fame inductees were: Mary Ann Calnan ’77, Dr. Nicole Chandler ’91, Thomas Clinton Sr. ’58, Jean Mullen Irzyck ’43, William ’63 and Sheila Martin ’63, Terence McGinnis ’63 and Dr. Richard Peinert ’65.
Calnan, a graduate of Boston College and Suffolk Law School, has practiced law for more than 30 years, concentrating in workers’ compensation. She is a founding partner of the women-owned firm Calnan, Freeley & Pellegrini, which specializes in insurance law.
Chandler is chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery and the director of pediatric surgery research at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla. She is an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Clinton excelled in football, basketball and baseball at St. Mary’s. He went on to Boston College and joined the Marine Corps, becoming a lieutenant and leading Marines in combat. He was a founding partner of the Boston-based maritime law firm Clinton & Muzyka.
Irzyk was a nurse who later pursued a career in modeling and taught at the John Robert Powers modeling agency and junior colleges for women. She went on to earn a master’s in Western Literature from Harvard at age 60.
The Martins met as St. Mary’s students and have been married for 53 years. Billy graduated from Holy Cross and had a successful career in the automotive industry. Always generous with their time and resources, the Martins remain loyal to St. Mary’s.
McGinnis served in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve for 28 years. He embarked on a lengthy career in the legal side of banking, becoming general counsel at Eastern Bank and Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks. In 2018 he joined Nutter, McClennen & Fish, where he is senior of counsel.
Peinert has practiced medicine on the North Shore for almost 50 years, specializing in cosmetic, plastic and reconstructive surgery. He operated a private practice in Lynnfield for 40 years and served as chief of plastic surgery at Union, Melrose-Wakefield and Salem hospitals. He currently practices in Swampscott and is the medical director of Younger Faces in Marblehead.
