The Panther Valley Irish-American Association has announced that Marianne Garfield of Summit Hill will be the recipient of the association’s annual Shamrock Award.

A longtime special education teacher before her retirement, she will receive the award from association President Scott Fisher when the organization holds its 77th annual dinner will be held on March 15 at the Hill Top Community Center, Summit Hill.

A social hour from 4-5 p.m. will precede the dinner and program.

“I was shocked and nervous, but I am absolutely appreciative,” she said after being notified of her selection.

When she accepts the honor as the proverbial “Irishwoman of the Year,” she will be following the footsteps of her late father, Dr. Dennis J. Bonner, who was recognized by the PVIAA in 1971.

“I was raised in a predominant Irish family household, and also spent a lot of time around my grandmother and aunt (the late Catherine Bonner, former Summit Hill pharmacist), so my Irish heritage means a lot to me and to be selected to receive this award is special,” Marianne said.

The wife of attorney Michael J. Garfield since 1971, she is a daughter of the late doctor and his wife, the late Janet (Childs) Bonner, who together maintained Summit Hill’s only physician’s practice for many years.

A 1966 graduate of Marian Catholic High School, Hometown, Marianne started her college education at Immaculata College. While there, she was a volunteered at Pennhurst State Hospital, where, she said, “The conditions were terrible, sparking my interest in special education.”

She later transferred to Marywood College and graduated with a degree in elementary and special education.

Marianne continued her studies at Smith College, Northampton, Maine, where she lived on the campus of the Clarke School for the Deaf. During that year, she taught at every level of the residential school.

She received her master’s degree at Clarke, which was considered one of the top schools in the United States.

For the next three years, she taught at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Pittsburgh while Michael studied law at Duquesne University.

The couple then settled in Jim Thorpe with their two daughters, Amy and Anita.

Marianne started the first kindergarten and preschool at St. Joseph School, Jim Thorpe, with the help of her cousin, Cathy Kennedy, and Monsignor Joseph Marzen, then pastor.

Following the birth of their grandson, Nicholas, she did volunteer work at Our Lady of the Angels School, Lansford, and eventually took a job as a life skills teacher in the Lehighton Area School District, where she worked for nine years.

Since her retirement, she has been active in the Summit Hill Historical Society, serving as its treasurer since January 2019.

The Garfields are the parents of Amy Antonellis of Denville, New Jersey, and Anita, wife of Paul McArdle Jr. of Summit Hill, who is also a Shamrock Award recipient (2022). They have three grandchildren, Nicholas, Riley and Chase McArdle.

She is also the sibling of three deceased brothers, William, Dennis J. “Jimmy” and Joseph Bonner.

For tickets to the banquet contact Bob Crampsie at 570-657-1876; Jim Crampsie at 570-217-6135; or Paul McArdle at 570- 956-8705.