Honoress 2017
Thomas P. Giblin
Thomas P. Giblin, a resident of Montclair, NJ for 36 years, has a lifetime dedication to the Labor Movement, Government, and Community Service. Thomas P. Giblin was raised in Newark, New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall Prep and Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ. He later attended graduate classes at Rutgers University and Seton Hall University. Tom Giblin has been a member of Local 68 Operating Engineers since he was 17 and has been serving as its Business Manager since 2004 and was previously its President. Local 68 IUOE represents Stationary Engineers and Building Maintenance Mechanics throughout New Jersey. Mr. Giblin is also the President of the EssexWest Hudson Labor Council, AFL-CIO serving since 1997. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations and the Seton Hall University School of Arts and Sciences. Tom Giblin, served as an Essex County Freeholder for ten years, Essex County Surrogate for four years, and now is in his twelfth year in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he serves as Chairman of the Regulated Professions Committee and Vice Chair of the Higher Education Committee. Also, he served as the Essex County Democratic Chairman for nine years and was the New Jersey Democratic State Chairman for four years. Tom Giblin is the Father of five children: Thomas P., Esq., Noreen M. Esq., Verona Councilman Edward M., Deputy Mayor Cranford Patrick F., Anne D.P.T. and grandfather of eleven. Tom is a Parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church, Montclair. Tom Giblin served as Grand Marshal of the 4th of July Parade in 2011, and is a life member of the Montclair Branch NAACP. Tom’s late sister Mary C. Giblin died in 2012 from Breast Cancer. Tom witnessed a struggle his sister experienced during an almost ten-year period and the strides that must be made to eradicate this challenging disease. |
In Loving Memory of
Mary C. Giblin Today, on June 4, 2017, AAngelsNJ honors Assemblyman Thomas P. Giblin for his many years of dedicated and committed service to the community. We honor him in loving memory of his sister, Mary C. Giblin, who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2012. “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, Love leaves a memory no one can steal” |
Debra A. Jones
On October 5, 2017 Debra will have worked for PSEG Services Corporation for 28 years. She worked her 28 years in Corporate Health & Safety as the H&S Policy Manager writing and enforcing company and regulatory standards to provide a safe and healthful workplace for the employees at PSEG. Debra is also a two-time “Breast Cancer Survivor”. The first time was August 1999 and the second encounter was November 2001. For me, it was never a question of if I would develop cancer it was when….. As a child/teenager cancer had already visited my Father’s mother and my Mother’s Father. By the age of 25 I lost my Dad to lung cancer. In 1988 my Mother had her first encounter with breast cancer and became a survivor. November of 2000 I lost my non-smoking husband to lung cancer. My son and I thought we could breathe a little but October 2003 breast cancer returned for the second time for my Mom. Within a month of diagnosis she was gone. My oncologist told me early on I can’t tell you that the cancer will not come back but what I can assure you is I will be there with you to fight it if it does….. I know this story sounds so bleak but there have been some major highlights since my son and I lost my husband/dad. My son made the 2008 and 2012 Olympics in swimming and has two gold and two silver medals; he is an ambassador for the USA Swimming Foundation “Make a Splash” initiative promoting swimming lessons for children in the Black and Latino communities, and the icing on my cake was to watch my son get married May 6, 2017 and to have that fairytale Mother-Son dance. |
Lester E. Taylor III
Mayor, City of East Orange A proud resident of East Orange’s First Ward, Lester E. Taylor III, was sworn into office as the 13th Mayor of the City of East Orange. At the age of 39, he became the second youngest mayor in the city’s history. Under his administration, East Orange is swiftly moving into a new era of unprecedented progress. Mayor Taylor’s mission is to enhance the quality of life in East Orange by providing outstanding service to its residents, community, visitors, and business partners. His vision is that East Orange will set the standard for urban excellence and become a destination city. In his first year, Mayor Taylor has focused on quality of life issues, education and economic development to put East Orange on a path to fiscal stability and sustainability. Within the first six months and with support from the East Orange City Council, the Mayor overhauled the East Orange Water Commission and made long overdue investments in the East Orange Golf Course to re-establish those two entities as revenue-generating community assets. His team also successfully resolved in 10 months a legal matter that had stalled progress along blighted Sussex Avenue for more than 10 years. That area is now open for redevelopment and has attracted the eye of several major commercial retailers eager to join the city’s renaissance. Under his leadership, East Orange is leading a national labor and public health movement to benefit working families. In September 2014, East Orange became the 4th city in the State of New Jersey and the 8th in the United States to pass the earned paid sick leave ordinance, a law that will help to build healthier and stronger communities. Through implementation of the Fatherhood Initiative, the East Orange College and Career Readiness Network, the Career Training Program and the Mentor Summit, Mayor Taylor has cultivated a strong community network of support for children and students in the city. He has forged ties with key partners and is creating new job opportunities for residents, including exposure to alternative and successful options for continuing education beyond high school. His goal is to build a stronger workforce better prepared to compete in the local, regional and global 21st century economy. Mayor Taylor earned his undergraduate degree in political science from Montclair State University and a Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law. The recipient of numerous awards for his civic involvement, Mayor Taylor is an active volunteer in the community and is currently a board member of the United Way of Essex and West Hudson and East Orange General Hospital. A former board member of the East Orange YMCA, the Historical Society of East Orange, Inc., and the East Orange Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Taylor currently represents the City of East Orange as a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, African American Mayors Association, International Council of Shopping Centers, New Jersey Conference of Mayors, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, National Conference of Democratic Mayors, New Jersey Black Mayor’s Alliance for Social Justice, New Jersey Urban Mayors Association, and the Salvation Army of the Oranges and Maplewood. He enjoys spending his time raising his three children, Amani, LT and Lena, with his wife, Bibi. |
Penny O. Corum
Penny Ophelia Corum is the second of four siblings born to John and the late Thelma Henderson. She was born in Montclair and educated in the East Orange School System. She is retired from Verizon Communications where she developed a reputation for professional acumen and dedicated service. She was a Human Resources Senior Staff Consultant providing the full complement of Human Resource Services for Verizon’s Large Business Enterprise Group. Her responsibilities included sourcing, diversity planning, training, organizational development, merger planning and implementation for approximately 5,000 employees nationally. Since the time of her retirement, she has volunteered with AARP in several leadership roles including Vice President for West Essex Chapter 131, Safe Driving Instructor and Zone Coordinator for Essex, Passaic and Union Counties. She continues to train all age New Jersey drivers on a refresher “SMART Driver” course through AARP. Penny holds a Bachelor of Business degree from Caldwell University, Certificate of Equal Employment Opportunity Studies from Cornell University, Human Resources Management Certificate from Fairleigh Dickinson University and has been certified as a Senior Human Resources Professional (SPHR) by the Human Resources Certification Institute of the Society of Human Resources Management. Penny champions being a good citizen and community advocate in many causes, most notably those that address economic, racial and gender injustices. She is very active providing extensive community service in Essex County in her current role as the Vice President and Program Chair for the Montclair Chapter of the Drifters, Incorporated. She serves as Co-Chair of Fund-Raising and Services to Youth with the North Jersey Chapter of the Links, Incorporated. Penny is also an active member of the New Jersey Chapter of the Northeasterners and the “Sharon, Our Thoughts” Book Club. One of Penny’s consistent objectives throughout her volunteer and civic endeavors is the engagement of youth and young people. She has facilitated anti-dropout workshops with middle school students and has been a mentor to students in several formal corporate programs. In all of her volunteer activities, she consistently encouraged young men and women to participate in all available programs. The success of her efforts allowed many more young people to benefit during their formative years. She continues to mentor many youth and young adults to ensure they are prepared to address life’s challenges, further their education and assume leadership positions. Penny is married to C. Calvin Corum. In their 40 plus years of marriage, he has always supported her involvement in community projects and has often partnered with her in these efforts. They have two beautiful daughters, Corinne Abdus-Sabur (Hassan) and Colleen Dyer (Chris). They also consider their niece, Monique Perry, as a daughter. They are the proud grandparents of 6; Safee, Ameera, Madison, Malik, Cailyn and Claire. “I would like to be known as an intelligent woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman, a woman who teaches by being” -Maya Angelou |
Dorothy J. Reed
Co-Founder & President Sisters Network of Central New Jersey Inc. Dorothy Reed became a breast cancer survivor in 1998. After a mastectomy and treatments, Dorothy dedicated herself to spreading the gospel of early detection in the African American community. In the absence of local support or culturally sensitive resources for African American women diagnosed with the disease, Dorothy formed the Sisters Network of Central New Jersey (SNCNJ) in 2000 with three other breast cancer survivors. SNCNJ is an affiliate chapter of Sisters Network Inc., a National African American Breast Cancer Survivorship Organization based in Houston, TX. Active in her community, Dorothy’s services include board membership on: • St. Peter’s Hospital Cancer Community Public Education • Robert Wood Johnson Univ. Hospital Community Relations Committee Dorothy spearheads five SNCNJ’s outreach projects with annual events aimed at educating, supporting and bringing awareness to women with breast cancer: the 5K Breast Cancer “Run/Walk 4Life” is the largest event. She frequently guest-speaks at corporate workshops, senior citizen complexes, auxiliaries, sororities, churches and schools. On a national level, in July 2015 Dorothy was selected as a White House Honoree of Precision Medicine “Champions of Change”; and is one of the original advocates for HR Bill 5116, the Dean and Betty Gallo Cancer Patient Compassion Act. She has spent extensive time on Capitol Hill with the National Breast Cancer Coalition. And in May 2005, Dorothy was selected to participate on the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program committee for the U. S. Army Medical Research Command. Dorothy has received numerous honors and awards including an appearance in a 2005 National Television Commercial Campaign by Astra Zeneca “If You Were My Sister” and was selected in 2006 as one of Lifetime Hero’s by Lifetime Television. She retired from Telcordia Technologies Inc. (formerly AT&T) after 30 years of service. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree, Cum Laude, from Pillar College, is a member of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, Somerset; and resides in Piscataway, New Jersey with her husband James. |
Michael and Michele Pierce
Michael and Michele met as students at Rutgers University in 1986 where they fell in love. They both graduated in 1988, Michele with a B.A. in Sociology and Michael with a B.S. in Chemistry who went on to obtain a Master’s Degree in Environmental Science. They were married in 1989 and pursued separate careers. Deciding to be self-starters and take control of their financial future, in 1991 they became entrepreneurs starting their enterprise in the Environmental Remediation field, that’s when Clean Soil Solutions (CSS) was created and they began catering to commercial development in the New York and New Jersey area. As minority business owners in a market that lacked representation, they saw it as their duty to create and develop inroads to promote opportunities for minority advancement in the industry. This new found financial freedom allowed Michele and Michael to travel the world, a pastime they still enjoy wholeheartedly. But, after breast cancer hit them on a personal level with the diagnosis of Michele’s mother and aunts, they began a journey to give back. They answered this call to action by walking in several Avon walks for breast cancer, raising money for the cause and trying to raise awareness. Breast Cancer continued to make itself an unwanted part of their lives with the diagnosis of friends and family members, so in conjunction with donating their time and resources, most recently Michele and Michael have become involved with AAngelsNJ by dedicating one of their company’s trucks to Angelina and her organization, promoting and raising awareness for the cause wherever the truck goes. They have two children, Kyle and Elena, one who has recently graduated from law school and the other who is applying to medical school, who have seen the breast cancer fight and hope to one day be powerful warriors in its eradication. Michele and Michael plan to continue to live with the purpose and determination of aiding in the fight against breast cancer and give back in any way they can, and continue to help others enjoy all that life has to offer them. |