On his first day of school, Liam Kearney received a surprise from a friend he had yet to meet. While his younger siblings were carrying a large box into their home, Liam was hard at work in his second grade classroom. Little did his teacher, Mrs. McGlone know, this surprise would involve not only her, but all her students, too!
In his first grade, Liam took part in St. Joseph School’s school-wide Adopt-A-Senior program, where he was asked to invite a senior into his life. Together with his Great-Great Aunt Marie, they took part in the project and shared their lives with each other. Truly getting to know each other, he found she was a pitcher during World War II on a team called, “The Peppers”. He also found she was a dedicated employee of 57 years at the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Gum Company in Chicago. Liam learned that she was a supervisor in the linen department and that she loved and cared for her sister throughout her life. He learned that his Aunt Marie had retired after 49 years at Wrigley as her sister was very ill, but after her sister died, Marie returned to Wrigley as a receptionist. He learned that she was a big Cubs fan.
Yet sadly, while Liam and Marie were learning about each other during his school program, Aunt Marie broke her hip and complications led to her passing. It was suggested that Liam honor his aunt’s memory by creating a book about her. What he created was a beautiful book in his own handwriting with photos and stories about her life and their time together.
The school shared Liam’s beautiful story in their Sunday church bulletin, and some pretty special eyes took notice.
Wrigley’s president, Duke Petrovich and wife, Nancy are long-time parishioners of St. Joseph. Like Liam, their children attended St. Joseph School. Realizing their connection, the two decided to look into Aunt Marie’s history at Wrigley. What they found were employees with fond memories of Liam’s aunt and old newsletter stories about Marie. In fact, Duke recalled Marie’s morning greetings as a receptionist at Wrigley.
After gathering information, Duke took time to personally write to Liam and with his letter he included a large glass etching of the old Wrigley Gum factory encased in an actual gum tray once used in the manufacturing of Wrigley gum. He also included a book on the history of the gum factory. But that wasn’t all!
Duke included a variety of 144 packs of Wrigley’s sugar-free gum for Liam to share with classmates at St. Joe. After presenting his book, Liam heard screams as he shared the gum with his friends. Mrs. McGlone led her class in prayer, thanking God for Marie, for her contagious laugh, and for the generosity of the Petrovich family and the Wrigley Company.
Duke and Nancy were glad to help Liam remember his Aunt Marie and at the same time share a part of Wrigley with his friends. “We hope his heart is more peaceful now, knowing that even when a loved one passes away, their legacy and livelihood carry on,” Petrovich said.
Liam was finally able to meet his new friends when school president, Sr. Dorothy Randall arranged for a meeting on Tuesday, September 22nd. Together they shared memories of long ago and remembered Aunt Marie in a very special way. The St. Joseph family is a bit closer now thanks to a second grader, his special senior and two very special parishioners. The school project became more a lesson of life to Liam and those who shared his story.
