Joanne Charles McGinnis, '52
Joanne is the only surviving person to have started at St. Mary of the Springs Academy in the first grade, staying through elementary and high school and then graduating from St. Mary of the Springs College with a BA in History in 1952. She went on to earn her Master of Arts degree from John Carroll University in 1977. Joanne taught at various schools over her career teaching math, science, history, Core Curriculum, History, and as a Reading Specialist. Joanne has been an active volunteer over the course of her life, some of which included serving as a Board member of the Chagrin Valley Recreation Center as Chair and Co-Chair of The Recreation Center Volunteers; St. Vincent Charity Hospital in Cleveland Heights, OH; Reading Tutor at Kenston Public Schools in Bainbridge, OH and has served as a member of the Christ Child Society of Cleveland since 1967 to present day. Joanne is a founding member of St. Joan of Arc Church in Chagrin Falls, OH. She served as parish Council President under two Pastors, taught Catechism classes for over twenty-five years, and later prepared special needs children for the Sacraments. In 2011, she started and continues to lead, a group who visit people in nursing homes and those who are home bound. Joanne was married to her husband, Dick McGinnis, for fifty-six years, a wonderful and patient husband and father. Joanne and her husband had six children and five are living. Joanne states that Dick was "the wind beneath my wings."
Sr. Mary Faith Geelan, O.P., '60
Sr. Mary Faith was born in New Haven, CT and was educated in both public and Catholic schools in the New Haven area, except for a brief stint when the family moved to Arlington, VA while her father served one term s United States Congressman during the terms of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Sr. Mary Faith entered the Dominican Sisters in 1955 after graduation from high school. Sr. Mary Faith graduated from St. Mary of the Springs with a BS in Elementary Education and History. She went on to earn her MA in American History from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN and then her MSW from Marywood University in Scranton, PA. Throughout her career, Sr. Mary Faith has served as a schoolteacher; Principal; Social Science Department Chairperson and Academic Vice Principal from 1959-1985 in the states of Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. In July 1982, Sr. Mary Faith became part of the Leadership Team for the St. Mary of the Springs Dominican Sisters in Columbus. From 1992-1996, Sr. Mary Faith served as a family therapist and supervisor for partial hospitalization and outreach programs in Scranton, PA. In 1996, Sr. Mary Faith was named Prioress of the St. Mary of the Springs Dominican Sisters and served in this role until 2002. She then went on to serve as a Pastoral Minister; Mission Group Coordinator and Director of Pastoral Ministry. On March 5 this year, Sr. Faith became the Co-Mission Group Coordinator at the Mohun Health Care Center. During her term as Prioress of the former Dominican Congregation of St. Mary of the Springs, along with the other members of her leadership team, they oversaw the construction of the present Motherhouse after the demolition of the former “high rise” Motherhouse building. During this same period, they also began discussions with members of the other Dominican Congregations to discern as to what they could do better together than as separate Congregations. These discussions eventually lead to the founding of the Dominican Sisters of Peace in 2009. Sr. Mary Faith served on the Board of Trustees for Ohio Dominican for many years between 1973-2015. Additionally, Sr. Mary Faith has served in a number of other leadership positions for the Dominican Leadership Conference and Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Region VI Ministry Committee of LCWR.
Craig Denney, '90
Craig graduated summa cum laude from Ohio Dominican in 1990 with a BA in Economic and Business. Craig was a member of the Ohio Dominican Men’s Basketball Team for all four years and co-captain his junior and senior seasons. Craig went on to get his Juris Doctorate from Case Western Reserve University School of Law; Master of Business Administration from Saint Martin's College; and then Masters of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. Craig is a Colonel in the Army Reserve and has over 23 years of military service. He currently serves as the Commander and Chief Trial Judge for the 150th Legal Operations Detachment (LOD) for the Army Reserve JAG Corps. This is the Military Judges' unit. Craig served as a Military Judge in the Army Reserve for more than six years before his selection as Commander of the unit. Craig's full-time job is serving as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for the Social Security Administration ODAR which handles disability cases in Nevada. Prior to being appointed as an Administrative Law Judge in 2016, Craig was a partner at the law firm Snell & Wilmer. His practice area was federal criminal defense. Before entering private practice, Craig served as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) with the United States Attorney's Office in Nevada. He prosecuted federal criminal cases involving money laundering, fraud, drug trafficking, and firearm offenses. For more than a decade, Craig has been Adjunct Faculty at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR). He teaches undergraduate courses (Corporate & White Collar Crime, Organized Crime, and Federal Prosecution) in UNR's Criminal Justice Department. Craig recently served as President of the Washoe County Bar Association in Reno, Nevada. He is also Board Certified in Criminal Trial Advocacy. Craig is married to Dr. Valerie Fridland who is a full professor at UNR. They have two children, Cole and Taylor.