The late Lorraine and Nick Marano may have never imagined that their farming endeavors would grow a legacy of learning for future generations of SUNY Oswego students. When Lorraine E. Marano designated $7.5 million from her estate to benefit SUNY Oswego, she did just that.
The bequest—the largest single gift in the college’s 153-year history—establishes the Nunzio “Nick” C. and Lorraine E. Marano Endowment, which will be used primarily to fund scholarships for students with financial need, especially those who are first-generation college students.
Lorraine Marano openly discussed her admiration for SUNY Oswego and believed the college was worthy of a gift of such magnitude because of the benefits it accords to students through academic programming, committed faculty and staff and strong, imaginative leadership.
An estate gift of this size reinforces the important role Oswego plays in the region and recognizes the college’s strong track record of success and prudent decision-making, said Jack James ’62, a retired Marine Corps colonel and chair of the Sheldon Legacy Society Steering Committee, which honors those who include Oswego in their estate plans.
The late Lorraine and Nunzio “Nick” Marano had a prosperous agricultural business located on a muck farm in Scriba. Nick was a communicant of Sacred Heart Church in Scriba and a former officer of Marine Midland Bank in Phoenix, and Lorraine served as the organist at Sacred Heart Church in Scriba and St. Peter’s Church in Oswego from 1991 to 2004.
A Scriba native, Nick owned Mar­ano Vacuum Cooling and Sales Inc. in his hometown and held a seat on the New York Mercantile Exchange until his death in 2002.
Originally from Philadelphia, Lorraine Marano graduated from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J.) with a bachelor’s degree, Drexel University with a master’s degree and the accelerated paralegal program at Syracuse University. She worked many years as a librarian at Cherry Hill High School East in New Jersey, and then worked for Resorts International and Tropicana Casinos in Atlantic City. Lorraine died on Oct. 1, 2013, at the age of 67.
Joan Carroll, associate professor of accounting and Faculty Assembly chair at Oswego, said the gift will have a direct impact on the education that unfolds within the classroom and is a vote of confidence.
James adds that the Marano bequest will encourage others to consider sup­porting Oswego.
Just as their farm provided a bountiful harvest for the region, the Maranos—through their bequest—will nurture the minds of Oswego students in perpetuity.