Mary Orne has worked at the Y for almost 30 years, and in that time has worked in every department in existence at the Y. As of next week, Mary Orne will be headed to the South Shore Y, to tackle a new job and help them raise funds for a capital campaign. After 30 years, we want to share some of the fantastic work she has done.
Orne has taught many of your children in the Early Learning Center, on Children’s Island and everywhere in between. She helped raise millions of dollars to build the new Y. She has connected our community in countless ways, and never stops trying to bring people together.
“I want everyone to know how invaluable Mary Orne was in the eighteen years (1991 to 2009) that it took to build the Lynch/Van Otterloo YMCA, as she worked with Paul Gorman and us and filled in wherever it was needed to make the new Y a great success,” said David Quade, member of the Board of Directors and past Board President.
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“I will forever see her in that cramped little office she shared with Paul Gorman at the Y on Pleasant Street,” said Quade. “Continually going over donor prospect lists, following up with phone calls, scheduling fundraising events, working with the Y volunteers/Board Members, all in addition to her regular responsibilities at the Y. She is one of the many “heroes” that made the new Y happen,” said Quade.
“To me, the Y means home,” said Orne. “It is a place to belong and meet people, and raise a family. The Y is about building mind, spirit, and body- the importance of cultivating strength equally in these three areas has been instilled in me from a young age at the Y. After 30 years here, we have shared everything in each other’s lives. It is impossibly hard to leave.”
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Mary Orne started working at the Y in 1973 as a gymnastics instructor. (She had been a YMCA gymnast as a child prior to that). From working in gymnastics, she began working in Y summer camps during high school.
After graduating high school, she started working out on Children’s Island, where years later she co-created the Ranger program with Peter Sawin, was the Family Camping Director for the Island, and where she met her late husband, Fred Orne. Her son still works out on the Island each summer.
After graduating from Stonehill College with a degree in Elementary Education, Orne returned to the Y once more – as a teacher in the Early Education Program in 1982. She worked as a teacher there under Director and mentor Marie Wolverton until 2004, at which point she took over the Director of Early Education position for the Y.
Mary was instrumental in the $14.5 million capital campaign to build the Lynch/van Otterloo YMCA, as well as the planning and execution of the Early Learning wing.
Since 2009, Orne has worked as the Associate Executive Director of the Lynch/van Otterloo YMCA. In moving to the new Y, we gained over 10,000 members. It is amazing how many of those people have come to know Mary Orne personally.
Mary Orne comes to work everyday and takes active steps to make things better. To improve someone else’s quality of life, through engaging older adults and creating new opportunities and activities for them, or connecting new residents in the area with other local people and helping them to build a social network of their own. She makes sure that everything runs smoothly, and that everyone is taken care of and has what they need.
“For me, the YMCA has always been a place I felt I belonged,” said Orne. “I want everyone to feel that they belong here, and that this is a fun, safe place for them and for their family.”
Mary has done so much for this Y and this community. For 30 years of selfless service, we say thank you. For a unifying, optimistic voice in every endeavor the Y takes on and the ability to unite people for a common cause, we say thank you. For the ability to get things started- and more importantly, finished, we say thank you.
We wish you well in your future career, and know that you will continue to touch lives wherever you go. You create a better place for those around you no matter where you are.
Thank you for growing up with the Y, and for building this community.
