Ten Years Later: Remembering the Legacy of Martha B. McCann
Tim, Laura, and Martha McCann
While teaching at Ursuline from 1993-2003, Martha B. McCann was a daily presence in the lives of hundreds of Ursuline students who were lucky enough to call her their teacher. And although this year marks the tenth anniversary of her passing after a courageous battle with cancer, her legacy continues to influence UA’s current students. While they will never have a chance to meet her, each year a student is selected to receive a scholarship in Mrs. McCann’s name. Wanting to continue her legacy of giving selflessly to help her students, her husband Tim and her four children – Kate, Paul, Alison and Laura ’02 – established a scholarship in her memory. The express purpose of this scholarship is to make an Ursuline education possible to a girl whose means would otherwise not allow her to attend the school. Since 2007, the scholarship has been awarded to one incoming student each year, and continues with the student throughout her career at Ursuline. “The scholarship grew out of who we, her family, perceived Martha to be and what she perceived Ursuline to be,” explains Tim McCann. After graduating from the University of Massachusetts in 1968, Martha taught in public schools in Western Massachusetts for many years, an experience which she cherished. But when she arrived at Ursuline, Mrs. McCann viewed it as the “epitome of her career.” The school provided an opportunity to “make a student’s prospects in life significantly different” by surrounding her with a set of role models and a culture of high expectations that encourage her to bring out her best efforts. Mr. McCann recalls his wife as an intellectual whose best friends were Shakespeare, Samuel Clemens, and Ernest Hemingway. An unassuming manner, profound wisdom, and a caring personality were hallmarks of her teaching style, causing one of her students to write “Thank you for those peaceful morning classes. Thank you for the first “A” paper I ever wrote. Kate Boxmeyer, Paul McCann , Martha McCann, Tim Thank you for encouraging me to write – you were the first teacher that McCann, Alison Sower, Laura McCann Barrett ’02 ever really ‘believed’ in me.” In keeping with Martha’s personality, the McCann family views the scholarship as a “flat-out gift,” with no expectation of thanks or reward. In fact, they choose not to know the identity of the recipient. Martha and Tim McCann always taught their four children that “the cornerstone of life is opportunity. When you are presented with an opportunity, you can pick it up or pass it by, but you should always look at it.” Likewise, the family knows that “the girls who receive the scholarship could make the most of it or not – the choice is theirs.” Indeed, most of the scholars have gone on to graduate from Ursuline and attend prestigious colleges. In 2002, Mrs. McCann delivered a speech entitled, “I know that I am loved.” In it, Martha described that which she believed in. She wrote, “I know that I am loved. I believe that the Kingdom of God is within each of us.... I see Christ in my family, in my students, in my colleagues, my friends, in the devotion of the Ursuline Sisters, and in the ever-inspiring legacy of St. Angela Merici.”
“I see Christ in my family, in my students, in my colleagues, my friends, in the devotion of the Ursuline Sisters, and in the ever-inspiring legacy of St. Angela Merici.” - Martha B. McCann 3