Marianne Cooper, a parishionersince 2011, joined to serve as our parish's Faith Formation Coordinator in July of 2020. Marianne is originally from Wayne, New Jersey, but has lived in a few places around the country. She and her husband, Chris, and 2 daughters, Catherine & Carolyn, moved up from Fredericksburg, Virginia between the 2 big snowstorms in January, 2011.
She's very proud of her family! Chris retired after working 20 years with the US Secret Service and is now working as a contractor for a security company in Boston. Her daughters both attended the Ayer/Shirley schools through high school, were altar servers for many years and were members of our youth group. Catherine received her Undergraduate & Masters degrees in Theater at Montclair State University. She is Assistant Director of Performance Production at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Carolyn is a recent graduate of UMass Amherst and is planning to pursue her Masters & Doctorate in Forensic Anthropology.
Marianne taught Faith Formation in Virginia for over 5 years in Fredericksburg before teaching at St. Mary's from 2011-2020. She was a substitute teacher in the Ayer-Shirley School District and also formed the middle-school chorus in 2013 continuing as its leader until the pandemic in 2020 . She loves to cook and bake cookies for friends and family. When possible, she sings along with the St. Mary’s Strummers or serves as a lector at Mass. Marianne had quite a challenge on her hands to offer faith formation amidst the pandemic. She hopes to grow the program for our children and for our parish families. We have been lucky to continue in-person since 2021– and her enthusiasm and creativity have been a wonderful asset!
Marianne is always open and welcoming to your thoughts and ideas. Please email her at [email protected]