LEGACY FAMILY Dowling Family

At St. Mary’s the term legacy family is something commonly known as there are many families for which a St. Mary’s education spans generations. This is the case for the Dowling Family. The Dowling Family legacy began with the matriarch of the family, Margaret “Peggy” (McElroy) Dowling. Peggy was a 1958 graduate of St. Mary’s, and according to her daughter Siobhan was a “Spartan though and through”. She was a proud alumna from a generation that “took a great deal of pride” in their school. Peggy’s plan to have all of her children attend St. Mary’s and carry on her legacy came to fruition. Peggy was the proud mother of four children, all who graduated from St. Mary’s. Joseph Dowling, class of 1988, Tara (Dowling) Laundry, class of 1989, Meghan Dowling, class of 1991 and Siobhan (Dowling) Skabeikis, class of 1994. Growing up in Lynn, Catholic education was the path Peggy wanted all of her children to have. They all began their schooling at Sacred Heart School in Lynn, so moving on to St. Mary’s for high school was the natural next step. “It was important to my parents for us to have a Catholic education.” Joe said. As they were already at Sacred Heart, which was a primary feeder school to St. Mary’s, the choice was an obvious one. “There wasn’t another Catholic school that was even an option.” During their time at St. Mary’s all of the Dowling siblings were active in sports. Joe played football, basketball and baseball, and was a member of the baseball team that won back to back state championships two years in a row in 1987 and 1988, when he was a junior and a senior. Tara was a member of the soccer and cheer teams and even came back to coach cheer when her sister Shiobahn was in school. Meghan was also active in basketball, softball and soccer, and received the Cardinal Cushing award for her athletic support and participation as well as a coaches award for basketball. In addition to cheer, Siobhan was also a member of the soccer team. Siobhan recalls fondly the camaraderie around school and athletics. Always having been around events from a young age, her strongest memories of St. Mary’s are of the tight knit community.” Beyond athletics, all members of the Dowling family touted the academic excellence of St. Mary’s while they were here which prepared them well for their futures. Joe, the oldest of the four siblings, graduated from Providence College with a Business Degree, before attending New York Chiropractic College where he graduated from in 1998. He owns a private chiropractic practice in Lynn, which opened in 2000. The second oldest sibling, Tara, continued her education after St. Mary’s at Plymouth State in New Hampshire for interdisciplinary studies. After working for two years, she decided pursue the medical field and received her Masters at Northeastern University and now works as a Speech Language Pathologist in the Lynn Public School system. Meghan, who proudly received perfect attendance in high school, currently works in retail. The youngest sibling, Siobhan, graduated from UMass Amhearst in 1998 with a Bachelors Degree in