GRAND MARSHAL - NOEL G. O'KEEFFE

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Noel G. O’Keeffe was born in November 1966 in Orange, NJ to, Noel S. O’Keeffe of Ballyduff Upper Co. Waterford, and Phylis O’Keeffe (nee Sheehy) of Sallynoggin Co. Dublin. Noel Sr. and Phylis brought Noel home to sister, Janet O’Keeffe-Burke, on Riggs Place in the Valley. He would later be joined by siblings Shaun and Karen. Noel and Phylis set down more permanent roots on Shepard Terrace, which was the premiere viewing location for the West

Orange St. Patrick’s Day Parade back in the day.

Two things are foundational to who Noel is as a person - his Irish heritage and growing up down the hill in West Orange. As always, the jokester from a young age, Noel tortured teachers from his early years at Hazel Avenue School to Washington Elementary School, Edison Junior High School and as a student of the final graduating class of the old West Orange High School in 1984. Noel spent considerable time growing up on the premises of the West Orange Community House. Whether it was playing in back of the Community House, which happened to be across the street from the O’Keeffe house, participating in Boys Club, taking a stab at theater in productions such as Grease and The Wiz, or roller skating, Noel was there. 

When he was 13 years old, Young Noel joined Big Noel “apprenticing” with O’Keeffe Contracting, a local West Orange business since 1964. Noel spent weekends and vacations learning on the job from his father and half of the Irish community in West Orange. Noel joined the family business full-time when he graduated high school, and as he likes to say, he has not stopped going since. That time has paid off in spades, as he has expanded the business and continues to run it out of West Orange today. In a full circle experience, O’Keeffe Contracting is on call to many of the establishments that Noel grew up going to as a kid - be it the Community House, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Joseph’s Church, Seton Hall Prep (the old West Orange High School), Washington Street School and the Edison Museum. Noel and the rest of the O’Keeffe family were raised, in part, by the local Irish community. A lot of time was spent at the Shillelagh Club, where Big Noel was an early member, Irish festivals in the Catskills, attending feis’ and Irish dances in Essex County, followed, of course, by mass on Sunday morning at Our Lady of Lourdes. It was years later when Noel realized that the parents chatting after mass in front of Lourdes was really an effort to pass the time until the light went on outside of Quigleys, which meant the bar was open. Back then, Mothers would then go home alone for a few hours of peace on Sunday to cook dinner while the kids went with their fathers and other Irish kids to Quigley’s, PJs, Gaffers or The Franklin Tavern to hang out. On the way home, Big Noel would have to stop at Tobias to pick up the bread for dinner. This just happened to be next to Sharkey’s’ Tavern where we would happen to make another stop. 

Between 1984 and 1988 Noel became Italian. He suddenly was adorned in a gold Italian horn necklace, Z Cavarrici jeans and wore far too much Drakkar noir cologne. He would spend hours cruising Brookdale Park in Bloomfield with friends in Z28’s and ending the nights at either Doc Callahan’s, The Turtle Brook or The Hall. 

Noel quickly returned to his roots when he joined the Shillelagh Club in 1988. It was there Noel began receiving bagpipe instruction from the incomparable Jack Gaynor at his kitchen table on Erwin Place. In less than a year, Noel joined the Essex Shillelagh Pipe & Drum Band in 1989 where he has made lifelong friendships. Noel was immersed in life at the Shillelagh Club - playing with the pipe band, marching in every parade around, bartending, and being an active Club member. Noel served as Quartermaster, Pipe Corporal and Pipe Sergeant of the Essex Shillelagh Pipe & Drum Band during his tenure. During that same time, Noel served as Treasurer, Financial Secretary, Keeper of the Shillelagh, and Vice President of the Shillelagh Club. Noel was Chairman of Building and Grounds for the Club and it was during that time when he helped the Club renovate the bar, hall, kitchen and executive board room. These projects were typically carried out by local tradesmen who were members of the Club in an effort to give back to what became a home away from home. But what is most important and meaningful to Noel was that he started and served as Chairman of the long running Project Children Fundraiser hosted by the Shillelagh Club. The Project Children program gave respite to children from Northern Ireland from the everyday violence and strife of their homeland. In his association with Project Children, Noel helped chaperone plane loads of children from Ireland to the tri-state area for the summer. Given that he is a kid at heart, Noel also started

and ran the Shillelagh Children’s Christmas party that continues to this day.

After a break in the early 2000s, when he was raising his children, Connor and Briana, Noel joined the South Park and District Pipe Band, which is comprised of many lifelong friends he played with in his early piping days. Noel’s love and commitment to South Park has been a main stay of his life since 2012. Noel and his fellow band members take pride in being a first call to help play weddings, funerals, divorces, parades, fundraisers and celebrations for all in the Irish community. A particularly enjoyable annual job for Noel has been playing the West Orange Parade Friday night bar tour for years. 

In 1996, Noel’s brother Shaun moved to Toms River to join the police department. Shortly after Big Noel and Phylis acquired a home in Beach Haven West, NJ, in 2002. The whole O’Keeffe family started enjoying more time at what was dubbed the Southern Estate. In May of 2014 Noel connected with Laura Harrington at his sister Janet’s annual Memorial Day BBQ and soon became inseparable and have been living happily in sin ever since. Noel and Laura soon expanded the southern compound in 2020 when they bought the Corona Castle during covid just a few doors down from the senior O’Keeffe’s in Beach Haven West. It should not surprise anyone that the summer season in Beach Haven West ends with a huge

boat parade on the lagoons. South Park and District Pipe Band have become a staple as they pipe Irish music on the O’Keeffe’s boat down the lagoon for all to hear. Noel and Laura’s life in Beach Haven West compliments their day-to-day life where they have resided together in Verona since 2017. Beyond that, Noel enjoys spending time with his whole family, which includes his wonderful common law stepdaughters, Brooke and Amber Harrington, as well as many nieces and nephews, Caitlin O’Keeffe, Brendan Burke, Molly Burke, Shaunie O’Keeffe, Emma O’Keeffe, Ryan Solimando and Anthony Solimando whether around West Orange or Down the Shore.

It would be an honor and privilege to be considered as Grand Marshal of the West Orange Day Parade 2025 and follow in my father Noel Sr. as Grand Marshal 2008 and my mother Phylis as Deputy Grand Marshal 2015.

Richard McDonald was born and raised in West Orange, NJ.  He is the loving husband of Daniela and proud father to his 18-year old son Turner and 15-year old daughter Riley.  

Richard’s grandfather Patrick Joseph McDonald was raised in Ballyjamesduff, a small town in County Cavan, before he moved to the United States to start a family. With a population under 3,000 people, Ballyjamesduff is a two-time winner of the Irish Tidy Towns Competition. 

As a child Richard attended St. Joseph’s elementary school and graduated from Seton Hall Prepatory School in 1994. While at Seton Hall Prep, Richard was the co-creator and vice-president of the school’s Irish-American club in 1992. As a West Orange resident, Richard participated in PAL football, Mountain Top baseball, as well as St. Joseph’s CYO sports and activities. 

Richard received his Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice at the College of New Jersey before being hired as a West Orange Police officer. Over his career, Richard has served as an Officer, Sergeant, Lieutenant and Captain in various divisions of the police department, including Patrol, Criminal Investigations, Accreditation and Training, Community Services, Traffic and the Records, Property & Evidence Function. Richard has been the creator and/or coordinator of numerous innovative, nationally recognized community policing programs including Operation HOPE (NJ’s first 24-hour municipal police response for drug abusers), Protect & Connect (NJ’s first municipal mental health co-responder program), Operation Blue Angel (lockboxes for the elderly and developmentally challenged), LGBTQI Fair Treatment (1st municipal officer to work with Garden State Equality), and the WOPD Officer Wellness Program. He also proudly served as Acting President of the PBA Local #25 Superior Officers Association.

To honor his hard work, Richard was presented with the Essex County ADAPT (Alcohol & Drug Abuse Prevention Team) Coalition Member of the Year Award 2019, the Essex County Opioid Awareness Task Force’s Recognition Award in 2019 and 2021, The United Clergy of the Oranges MLK Community Services Award 2017, and the Chief Wilde Achievement Award from the NJ State Association of Chiefs of Police.

Throughout his career, Richard has been selected to speak at conferences such as NJ Emergency Preparedness Association Annual Conference, NJ Public Safety Accreditation Coalition Annual Conferences, Essex County Chiefs of Police Annual Conference, and the PLA Provider Liaison Association Annual Conference. He has been requested as special guest lecturer on multiple occasions at Kean University as well as numerous semesters at Rutgers University School of Business. 

He has been showcased as a guest speaker for community organizations such as The United Club of WOHS, The Oheb Shalom Social Justice Group, and B’Nai Shalom Racial Justice Group. 

Richard has recently become an instructor for the NJ State Association of Chiefs of Police’s prestigious Command and Leadership Academy. 

Many people also know Richard from his second career, that of a standup comedian, actor, writer and performer. He has been seen on ABC’s Live with Regis and Kelly, heard on Sirius/XM, was a regular performer at comedy clubs throughout NYC and Atlantic City and has acted in numerous independent movies. His two-man comedy show, McDonald and Carney, has performed up and down the east coast and were the headliners of the Irish-American based “McLAUGH-in” comedy tour and creators of the “Stand-Up Against Hate” Comedy Festival. They are most proud of their fundraising and benefit shows, having raised over $750,000 over the years for such notable causes as American Cancer Society, Wounded Warriors, Walk MS, and Suicide Prevention. 

When he is not spending his time as a WOPD Captain or entertainer, Richard is also a dedicated softball coach to his daughter’s club travel team and is currently enrolled at St Elizabeth’s University to pursue his graduate degree.

Kathleen Smith Loria was born in Orange, NJ, to the late John and Patricia “Patsy” Smith and raised in the Lourdes neighborhood of West Orange with her four siblings, Sharon Hintz, the late John Smith, Jr., Colleen Geier (her twin), and Jeanne Smith. Kathleen attended Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School,

Thomas Edison Jr. High, and was a member of the first graduating class of the combined West Orange and Mountain High Schools. Kathleen went on to receive her BS in Accounting from Montclair State University, and she went back to school during the COVID pandemic and received her MBA in Healthcare

Administration. 

West Orange roots run deep in Kathleen’s family. Her mother, Patsy O’Connor Smith, a lifelong resident of West Orange, also attended Our Lady of Lourdes and West Orange High School. Patsy worked for the Township of West Orange and the West Orange Fire Department for 20 years. Kathleen’s father, John

Smith, Sr., was raised in South Orange and Summit before moving to West Orange in 1960. They were both active parishioners of OLL and the local Irish community. The West Orange St. Patrick’s Day Parade was like a holiday in the Smith household and was eagerly anticipated every year. 

Kathleen’s Irish lineage hails from three of her grandparents. Her maternal grandfather, Michael O’Connor, was raised in Mullen, Frenchpark, County Roscommon, and her maternal grandmother, Mary Jane Regan, came from Cloonbook, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo. They emigrated from Ireland in the late 1920s, married in New York City in 1930, and settled in West Orange. Kathleen’s paternal grandmother,

Helen Cunningham, was a first-generation Irish-American. Helen’s parents, John and Norah Cunningham, emigrated from Kilnamanagh, Frenchpark, County Roscommon, to Orange, NJ. Her paternal grandfather’s lineage can be traced back to the 1600s in New Jersey when Kathleen’s 9th great-grandfather, Obadiah Bruen, signed a document purchasing a large parcel of land from the local Native

Americans that currently make up the greater Newark area, with his signature second only to Robert Treat.

Kathleen is a proud member of Women of Irish Heritage, Northern NJ. She is currently the Recording Secretary and the chairperson of the Finance Committee. Kathleen was instrumental in obtaining the 501(c)(3) charitable designation for the WOIH-NNJ. Active in many club activities, she also recently traveled to Ireland with other club members to attend Féile na mBan (Festival of Women) in Bundoran, Donegal. She is also a member of Sisters of St. Brigid of New Jersey, a non-profit Irish association based in Morristown, NJ.

Kathleen is an accounting and finance professional and has been a Certified Public Accountant for over 30 years. Twenty-two of those years have been spent in healthcare finance and administration. She is the Managing Director of Atlantic Neurocare, LLC, and a business consultant for Atlantic Brain and Spine,

LLC, an affiliate of Atlantic Health System.

Kathleen and her husband, Paul Loria, reside in New Providence, NJ, where they raised their blended family of seven girls. Kathleen is the mother of three amazing daughters, Lauren, Shannon, and Allison. She also has four incredible stepdaughters (and sons-in-law): Adrianne (EJ), Pamela (Chris), Melissa

(Garrett), and Julia (Ryan). Kathleen and Paul are the proud grandparents of eight grandchildren and can’t wait to march together with family and friends on March 16th, 2025!