St. Paul Catholic High students receive Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation scholarships

Posted By: David Fortier June 18, 2024

Four St. Paul Catholic High School graduating seniors have been chosen to receive scholarships from the Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation, a not-for-profit private foundation established by their two children in 1996 to memorialize the “helping hand” approach they learned from their parents.

The foundation grants annual scholarships for deserving graduating seniors planning to attend college. Each recipient is assigned at least one former scholarship earner as their mentor throughout college and beyond.

This year’s recipients are Michael Barzee, Gabriela Quirk, Briann Wood and Jocelyn Kenney. The awards total $134,000 over four years.

Barzee is receiving a scholarship to attend the University of St Joseph’s and major in Criminal Justice.  His mentor is Tommy Romero. Romero will be graduating from Western Connecticut State University this year with a degree in Criminal Justice. He is currently interviewing for a job as a police officer with three local jurisdictions.  He plans to work as a police officer while he obtains his master’s in criminal justice. After obtaining his master’s he plans to work for Homeland Security.

Quirk is receiving a scholarship to attend Boston College and major in Political Science. Her mentor will be Jatorra “Tori” Jackson who has a degree in Political Science from the University of Connecticut and is currently working for the Connecticut State Supreme Court while she saves money to attend law school.

Wood is receiving a scholarship to attend Boston College and major in Mathematics. Her mentor will be Gillian Smith, a 2022 graduate of St. Paul Catholic High School, and is a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute majoring in Engineering.

Kennedy is receiving a scholarship to attend Eastern Connecticut State University majoring in Biology.  Her mentor will be Jenna Madigan who graduated from Fairfield University with a degree in Bioengineering and is employed by Medtronics as a Research Engineer.

This mentor-awardee relationship encourages the recipients to offer personal support to someone else after they graduate by “paying it forward” – in the form of mentoring and/or financial assistance, according to the release.

All TBE readers, supporters and donors                

The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.                

  • Non-members will be able to access four (4) articles per week.                
  • Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access four (4) articles per week.                
  • Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.                

Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.