Pius X Honors Benefactors, Distinguished Stewards, and Outstanding Alumna
The deep support for and dedication to Catholic education took center stage on Sunday afternoon, August 9 at the annual Friends of Pius X Appreciation Reception. The event, hosted by the Pius X Foundation, honors the dedication of time, talent and treasure of many Pius X benefactors. The event also featured the presentation of two special awards for exemplary leadership, service and achievement.
“Pius X is very fortunate to have the support of so many alumni, parents, the Lincoln community, and all of you,” noted Pius X Director of Development Michelle Birkel in her opening remarks. “You have made a difference in the lives of our students. Our students are deepening their Catholic identity and because of you, have a strong foundation for the rest of their life.”
Birkel also took the opportunity to thank the many people – parents, alumni and others – who volunteer at Pius X throughout the year. A special thank you and recognition went to Bob Ruyle and Mark Ressigue who were instrumental in assisting Pius X with a hallway beautification and identification project that was completed this summer. The project included new paint, classroom numbers, school identity, and a parish community display. Guests were encouraged to tour the school after the reception and see first-hand the improvements that have been made at Pius X.
Joe and Agnes Hanigan – Distinguished Stewardship
Msgr. Liam Barr, pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church, presented the 2015 Distinguished Stewardship Award to Joe and Agnes Hanigan. Barr reflected on both his time as a young seminarian when he lived with the Hanigan family and as the school’s superintendent as he eloquently explained the Hanigans’ impact on Pius X.
As supporters for more than 55 years, Joe and Agnes have worked selflessly to support Catholic education at Pius X High School and in the Diocese of Lincoln. They are a true reflection of the value they place on the importance and transformational power of Catholic education.
Barr specifically noted how the couple laid the foundation for much of the current growth and development evident in the financial support system that exists at Pius X today. Joe and Agnes joined a select group of Pius X parents to organize and develop financial stability for the athletic Booster Club. They were instrumental in the development of the school’s BOLT dinner and gala event, and Joe and Agnes provided needed leadership in a number of fundraising campaigns over the years, especially the drive which produced the school library and locker rooms.
Pius X and Catholic education were simply a part of the Hangian family. The long-time Lincoln couple raised eight children, all graduates of Pius X High School. They now have 46 grandchildren and a growing number of great-grandchildren. Soon, more than 20 grandchildren will continue the growing family tree of Pius X graduates rooted in Agnes and Joe’s devotion to the Catholic school community.
A successful and well respected businessman in the Lincoln community, Joe created and operated Midland Medical and AAA Rents. He would also develop property for State Farm Insurance later in his career.
Joe and Agnes also have been active leaders in both the Catholic and Lincoln community at large. Agnes currently serves on the Pink Sister’s Executive Board and volunteers in the St. Teresa Thrift Shop. Joe is a 53-year member of the Serra Club. His business acumen has been sought by many boards, including Catholic Social Services, Madonna Professional Care Center, the Bishop’s Lay Committee for Vocations, and St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center. Joe facilitated a number of financial stewardship drives including the fund to build the first addition to St. Joseph School and the fund to build a new convent for the Teaching Sisters of Christ the King.
Dr. Mary Jean (Anderson) Case ’67 - Outstanding Alumna
Ms. Shannon Anderson ’78 introduced the next award recipient who happened to be Anderson’s sister. The 2015 Outstanding Alumna award was presented to Dr. Mary Jean (Anderson) Case ’67.
“I have the pleasure of presenting the Outstanding Alumni Award this year to a very special person in my life, my sister Mary Jean Anderson Case,” started Anderson during the introduction of her sister. “It is indeed an honor to be part of this recognition…Pius’ mission to restore all things in Christ is amended daily be her commitment to restore all things all the time in Christ. Mary Jean is fearless in her commitment to bring out the best in those around her and fierce in her faith to do with peace and love, especially in what others believe to be impossible.”
Dr. Case is a National Board-certified anatomic and clinical pathologist with subspecialty training in neuropathology. After graduation from Pius X she earned a bachelor’s degree from Mount Mary College and a master’s in environmental engineering from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Case graduated from medical school at the University of Nebraska in 1976. She continued on to a residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at the University of Iowa, and a neuropathology fellowship at the Universities of Washington and Iowa.
Her career radiates with passion for the human brain—not only for studying how it functions physiologically and cognitively, but also for training others in how to use this information in a practical way. Dr. Case worked in private practice at Bishop Clarkson Hospital in Omaha and Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Washington.
During the course of her professional career, Dr. Case added four professional foci to her resume: Hospice and Palliative Care; The Stanford University Chronic Disease Self Management Program; a Minister of Presence at Recovery Café, a private day program for recovering addicts; and Emergenetics, a psychometric tool that helps individual’s creative, positive and dynamic working environments at home and on the job.
Today she serves as a Chronic Disease Self-Management Program Facilitator and Master Trainer, an Emergenetics Facilitator with advanced certification, and an Emergenetics International’s Staff Neuroscientist.
Mary’s husband Kevin is a radiologist working within a perinatology practice, exclusively serving at risk pregnant patient families. The couple continues to reside in Washington State. Their two daughters, Mairead and Siobhan, live in Denver and Boston, respectively. Despite growing up in Washington, Dr. Case’s daughters know the legacy and light of Pius X and the University of Nebraska campus, having attended many football games in Lincoln and Masses at St. Patrick parish, where Mary attended school and where she and Kevin were married. Case and her husband have also established a scholarship at UNL for a female Pius X graduate.
The Pius X Foundation welcomes nominations for both the Distinguished Stewardship and Outstanding Alumni awards which are presented yearly at the Friends of Pius X Appreciation Reception. Nominations may be submitted at piusx.net. Nomination deadline is April 15, 2016.
