Kathleen Donnelly grew up here, was educated here and never forgot where she came from during an adventurous life.
She died recently at 86 in New York City.
As part of her wishes, her estate donated $400,000 to the public library system to be used for charitable purposes.
How she came of age here, how she graduated from Everett High School and Fordham University, how she travelled the world as a flight attendant for American Airlines are all indelible parts of her personal life narrative.
She was an avid reader, a real estate investor who knew what to buy and where to buy it back when.
She was a friend to everyone in her family – and she came from a family of ten children that lived on Hancock Street.
She travelled the world.
She saved her money.
She believed strongly and passionately in her Catholic faith.
When she died recently, it was done with the ambition to give back long after she had passed from the earth.
That’s what the extraordinary donation to the Everett Public Library system achieves.
It is about giving back, and in a big way.
The city should take notice of and be grateful for Kathleen Donnelly’s generous bequest.
What an incredible donation she has made for the well-being of the generation to come.