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Donor visits Clancy Avenue for the first time
Judy Clancy
When Judy Clancy stood on the street named after her departed husband Jim for the first time, she felt, she said, like she was "on top of the world." The Clancys, both Michigan natives, have been active supporters of Ave Maria University since relocating to Florida several years ago, assisting as volunteers with the university's day-to-day operations and donating more than $1 million to the university. In recognition of the couple's generosity, a street in the town of Ave Maria, Fla. has been named "Clancy Avenue" in their honor.
"Jim was very impressed by Mr. Monaghan's vision for the university; he was a very generous man and he wanted to help young people receive a good education," Judy said of her husband, who passed away last year. "I felt a tremendous amount of pride knowing that down here on earth there is a place named after my husband, honoring the generous man he was."
Not long after retiring to Naples several years ago, the Clancys received a fundraising letter from AMU Chancellor Thomas S. Monaghan, with whom Jim had attended high school in Traverse City, Mich. It was the first the Clancys had heard about the new Catholic university being founded in their community.
"Jim wrote back to see if Mr. Monaghan remembered him, which he did," Judy said. "They met for lunch, and Jim learned about Mr. Monaghan's wonderful plans for the university; we were both quite impressed by the mission of the school."
Jim, who worked as a purchasing agent for a large automobile manufacturer for many years, became involved with AMU by volunteering to help the young university with the organization of its purchasing office. Clancy Avenue-which converges with Ave Maria Boulevard just north of the oratory and stretches through tennis courts and athletic fields-is an acknowledgment of the Clancys' donation of their time and talents as well as of their financial generosity, according to Dr. Carole Carpenter, vice president for university relations at AMU.
"Judy and Jim believed in the dream of AMU even before the first students arrived," Carpenter said. "Both of them became beloved friends of the university, and it is an honor to have Clancy Avenue as a lasting tribute to their faith."
Standing on the street bearing her name and memorializing her husband for the first time was poignant yet exciting experience for Judy.
"It was absolutely one of the best days in my whole life," she said. "It is marvelous to have an institution like Ave Maria to lead young people toward embracing greater values as well as a strong education, and my husband and I have been proud to be a part of it."