2010 Grand Marshal - The Nolan Burke Family
Celebrating Family, Fun & Faith
As Catonsville celebrates its 200th birthday in 2010, generations of families will have the opportunity to explore their “roots” in our community. Tours, galas, lectures and events will commemorate the hard work that hundreds of families have contributed to the success of the Catonsville Village and the surrounding neighborhoods.
Families are the backbone of our community, and the July 4th Committee wanted to honor a family that exemplifies the Catonsville spirit. When the Nolan/Burke family contacted us about marching in the parade, we knew we had found the perfect family for the 2010 Grand Marshal.
The family can trace its Catonsville roots to Bernard Nolan, who was 23 years old when he left his native County Longford, Ireland and came to the United States in 1863. The 1870 census lists him as a farm hand working at Mt. de Sales Convent and School run by the Visitation nuns, many of whom were from Ireland. By 1890, Bernard had married Mary Fahey from County Galway, Ireland, had five children, and had been promoted from gardener to caretaker of the Craigieburn estate in the Paradise section of Catonsville. (Craigieburn was demolished in the 1950’s to make way for the Baltimore Beltway.)
In 1897, he bought a house with 1 ½ acres on Wade Ave. and 12 years later, he passed away at age 68 from pneumonia. During his life, he was active in the Catonsville community and was very connected to parish life at St. Agnes Catholic Church and later, at St. Mark.
Thus begins the Nolan family’s long term relationship with Catonsville where members of the family have lived for the past 140 years. Bernard would be happy to see that so many of his descendents still live in Catonsville and contribute to its success. He would never have dreamed that his granddaughters, Mary Catherine Nolan O’Donnell (class of 1927) and her sister Florence (class of 1929) would graduate from Mt. de Sales where he humbly started his American life. He would be absolutely thrilled to see this tradition continue with his great, great, great granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth O’Donnell, who will be a freshman at Mt. de Sales next September as part of the class of 2014. On the next page are some selected examples of Bernard’s descendents who have chosen to live in Catonsville and have made a significant difference in their community.
Members of the Nolan/Burke family who live in Catonsville have the names of Nolan, Murphy, Baines, Quaid, O’Donnell, Morsberger, Stojinski, Farrell, Bowen, Toulan, Hock, Schneider, Barth, Oates, Kalwa, and Johnson. Like most families they volunteer in a myriad of activities through their schools, athletic leagues, civic organizations and churches. They are probably a lot like your family, which is why we chose them to represent all the families that make Catonsville a wonderful place to live!
The Nolan Burke Family - Celebrating Family, Fun & Faith
Congratulations to the Nolan/Burke family who will gather on the July 4th weekend for another extraordinary family reunion. The entire family, including descendents of Bernard’s brothers, will serve as Grand Marshal of the 2010 parade and will proudly represent all Catonsville families; past, present and future!
The Nolan Burke Family knows the importance of connecting and contributing to the Catonsville community. Family members have been active in all facets of Catonsville life for 14 decades. Here are a few select members of the family who have made significant contributions to our community.
Often referred to in the Argus as “the popular young pharmacist,” Dr. James J. Nolan (Bernard’s son) spent most his adult life (1899 -1931) in his pharmacy at the corner of Frederick Road and Bloomsbury Ave. His obituary called him “one of the most beloved residents of Catonsville” and reported that Dr. Nolan was “a citizen who will be sorely missed in the community where he spent his life”.
Dr. James Joseph Nolan, Jr. (Bernard’s grandson) was a well known and admired Catonsville physician and former chief of medicine at Bon Secours Hospital. He was an old-fashioned doctor who made house calls, held long office hours and always stopped at the hospital. His colleagues described him as a talented gifted warm physician who was admired for his intelligence, teaching skills, and medical knowledge. After retiring, he was a volunteer for St. Agnes Hospital hospice program. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 87.
Mary Catherine Nolan O’Donnell (Bernard’s granddaughter), who was widely known by her nickname “Caukie,” taught English at Catonsville High School from 1931 until 1940. After raising a family, she returned to the classroom in 1959 at St. Mark School in Catonsville and then later St. Paul’s School in Ellicott City. She retired in the mid-1970s and died in 2005 at the age of 95.
In the early 1970s, Betty Staub Nolan, who was married to Bernard’s grandson, John, discovered her only son, John, was stricken with a mental disorder known as schizophrenia. Realizing that resources and options for the mentally ill in the Catonsville community were scarce, Betty banded together with other parents to form ReVisions (now Mosaic), an organization that has helped hundreds of people dealing with mental illness to find jobs, attend therapeutic programs and live successfully in the community. Her family continues to advocate for the mentally ill.
John “Jack” Murphy (Bernard’s great grandson) loves practicing law in the Catonsville area with his daughter Maureen Murphy, but he also has a passion for creating and administering the laws of Baltimore County. From 1974 to 1978, he was elected to represent Catonsville as the 1st District Councilman. He also has served as Deputy Zoning Commissioner for Baltimore County and as a member of the Baltimore County Board of Appeals and the Baltimore County Planning Board. He was appointed to the Baltimore County Executive’s Task Force and the Governor’s Task Force on Family Law. Most recently, Jack has been active on the Catonsville 2020 Committee working for the future of Catonsville.