Grand Marshals Named for 63rd Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade

The Friends of St. Patrick have announced the Grand Marshals for the 63rd Annual Miller Place-Rocky Point St. Patrick's Day Parade; committee members of the Friends of St. Patrick and local businessmen Walter Colleran and Ed Mooney.

Colleran, a veteran Wounded in Vietnam in 1968, has been married to his wife Joanne for 42 years and moved Shoreham nearly 40 years ago where he and his wife raised three children, Kelly, Brian and Kevin, and are now blessed with six grandchildren.

In 1981, Walter started the Colleran Insurance Agency and over the years, has been an active member of the Shoreham-­Wading River community. He became involved in various organizations including the SWR Little League, where he served as Vice President, and he is a past President and current Vice President of the Shoreham-­Wading River Chamber of Commerce.

Mooney served as a sonarman on the anti submarine destroyer USS McGowan in the early 1960’s, then went on to get a degree in Financial Planning from Adelphi University. He worked for Verizon for 26 years before starting his own business as a Financial Planner; his office is now in Rocky Point. Mooney and his wife Cathie have six children, Eddie, Kevin, Carolyn, Anthony, Austin and Tyler and also have eleven grandchildren. He lived in Miller Place for the past 20 years.

Both men became members of the Friends of St. Patrick in 2003. Mooney has served as the Treasurer on the Board of Directors for the past seven years and Colleran has been the Parade Chairman for the past five years.

The Friends of St. Patrick will pay tribute to the Grand Marshals on March 10 from 4-8 p.m. in the  Grand Ballroom at The Inn at East Wind on Route 25A in Wading River during their Cocktail Party Fundraising event.