Maureen McGarry was a woman who was both a teacher and a student, earning a doctoral degree from the University of Connecticut while simultaneously serving as CCRI’s assistant dean of nursing and allied health, now Health & Rehabilitative Sciences.

It was this latter feat, striving to constantly gain and impart knowledge, said her mentor and close friend former Dean Kathleen Dwyer, that made her proud to leave the reins of the nursing school in McGarry’s capable hands.

Dwyer couldn’t come to last Friday’s memorial service for MGarry, attended by more than 100 of her former colleagues, friends and students who braved bad weather to get to the Flanagan Campus. But she shared her heartfelt and sometimes humorous remembrances in a letter that was read by Ruth Sullivan, dean of learning resources and library services.

“She did make it up from Florida for the funeral,” said Sullivan. “She pointed out that when Maureen was at UConn, it ‘didn’t affect her work’ at CCRI.”

Dean McGarry died unexpectedly at age 70 on Nov. 12.

Indeed, there hardly seemed to be a time when McGarry wasn’t adding another degree to her résumé starting with a nursing degree from St. Joseph’s Hospital, a BS as a school-nurse teacher from Rhode Island College, an MS in education, an MS in nursing from the University of Rhode Island and the PhD in philosophy from UConn. She taught and was assistant dean of her alma mater St. Joseph’s, assistant dean and then dean at CCRI and a special lecturer at Providence College’s school of continuing education.

Between the two of them, she and Dwyer could justifiably take credit for transforming the nursing school into one of the top-performing programs in the state and, turning out a great number of other excellent health care professionals.

The professional admiration and personal affection felt for McGarry were much in evidence in a moving program during which some participants choked back tears.

Speakers included President Ray di Pasquale, Dean Peter Woodberry, Professor Susan Sienkiewicz of the Health & Rehabilitative Sciences faculty, and the late dean’s sister, Carol Young. There was a performance by assistant music department coordinator Professor Audrey Kaiser and students Antonio Rodriguez and Brianne Perry.

David Patten, vice president for business affairs who joined the college recently, said, “I was just getting to know Maureen. It was very touching that her colleagues came together. It was well deserved. She had a depth of knowledge that was known throughout the region and a lasting effect on nursing. It made me regret that I didn’t work more closely with her.”

Edna O’Neill Matteson, coordinator of facility use, added, “To me she was one of the most dedicated people that CCRI has ever had. She cared about her students, her colleagues. She was respectful. The fact that the nursing program is the best in the state had a lot to do with her and Kathleen Dwyer, who came before her.”

Someone who saw her every single day, going back years, is Richard Coren, director of marketing and communications. “I’ve been here going on eight years,” he said, “and I knew her from the time she was dean up until her death. Our parking spaces were next to each other.”

He echoed others in choosing the phrase “highly respected” on campus and in the health care community. “Because she served on so many different boards, Maureen was looked up to by a lot of health care professionals.

“Our programs produce more health care practitioners than any in the state. They test against graduates of four-year programs and they finish among the highest scoring. It’s a point of pride for the college.”

As an appointee of the RI Commission for Higher Education, a member of the RI Center for Nursing Excellence and the Board of Registration and Nursing Education, McGarry left her stamp on a generation of nurses in training.

On the national level, she had a tremendous impact on how boards of accreditation and review operate.

Her legacy will be the future generations of students she inspires. There will also be a permanent reminder that she is loved and remembered by her peers.

On Friday, CCRI President Di Pasquale announced that a plaque would be placed in the nursing wing of the Newport County Campus naming it for Dr. Maureen McGarry.

Her husband, former Warwick Battalion Chief Mike McGarry said Friday’s tribute was “tremendous. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place.” Since then he has received calls from Japan, Virginia, Arizona, Kentucky and many other locations.

“I wondered who she knew in Japan and then I realized she touched everyone all over the world. Her knowledge was so great.”

Her ashes were placed in the Veterans Cemetery columbarium on her birthday Nov. 29. She and her husband would have celebrated 49 years of marriage in January

Their 9-year-old granddaughter heard them talking about the arrangements and the fact that a bench is located in front of the wall of names.

“She said ‘Nan always read to me. Now I can come and sit here and read to her,’” recalled her grandfather. His voice broke for the first time.