Maureen McCoy Lovullo

THINK AHEAD Memorial Fund

Maureen McCoy Lovullo devoted herself to many roles; mother, wife, daughter, aunt, niece, cousin, friend, and sister. But, for those of us who knew and loved her best, it was her devotion as a teacher that set Maureen apart; evidencing her love, patience, and kindness.

As a teen Maureen chose a career in special education; teaching intellectually and developmentally disabled students with compassion and respect. As a teen she was moved to action by an expose on the horrors of Willowbrook, a Staten Island school for the developmentally disabled. She then attended the John Lennon “One to One” concert to benefit the Willowbrook School. For years she kept the concert’s souvenir mirrored box within reach. The reflective mirror inside reminded anyone she shared it with, that “agents of change” are found in our own reflection. Maureen, as a teacher and mentor, was a change agent for hundreds of colleagues and students throughout her career!

Maureen began her career as a volunteer with the Holy Innocence Project at St. Mathias school in Ridgewood, Queens. After college she taught in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, the NYC Department of Education and Orange-Ulster Boces, following a move to the Hudson Valley.

Maureen had impressive teaching plans beyond the standard classroom. She wanted to open a small shop where she could hire “her kids” once they had “aged out” of the education system; training them in customer service and providing them with employment opportunities. Maureen never realized those plans. After caring for ailing family members she was stricken with corticobasal degeneration.

To honor Maureen’s life’s work her family has created the Maureen McCoy Lovullo THINK AHEAD Memorial Fund. DCC’s THINK AHEAD program is a work readiness training program that prepares people with intellectual disabilities to enter the workforce or supported employment. THINK AHEAD is exactly the type of program Maureen would have championed.

The Maureen McCoy Lovullo THINK AHEAD Memorial Fund will provide funding for program supplies and activities to enhance the student educational experience at THNK AHEAD.

“The world lost an angel the day she left us and Heaven gained a saint.”

Please use the form below to make your donation. 

To donate by check, please make it payable to Dutchess Community College Foundation. Indicate Maureen McCoy Lovullo THINK AHEAD Memorial Fund in the memo and mail to 53 Pendell Rd, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. 

For more information and other ways to give, contact the DCC Foundation at (845) 431-8400.