Come rain, shine or subzero temperatures, Sister Jean “Cookie” Crowley promises to enjoy this year's St. Patrick's Day parade like she has no other.

        A nun known for her work with troubled boys, Sister Cookie usually walks in the parade with her family, a large Irish clan. But on March 17, she will serve as the parade's honorary grand marshal, heralding a procession of floats, bagpipe corps and paraders wearing leprechaun suits, hats with shamrocks and buttons that say “Kiss Me. I'm Irish.”

        Sister Crowley, 59, of Price Hill, vows to wave heartily to the crowd, whether members are Irish or not.

Sister Jean “Cookie” Crowley, shillelagh at the ready, will be the honorary grand marshal of the St. Patrick's Day parade in Cincinnati. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        “Everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day,” she said. “If you can't have a good time at a St. Patrick's Day parade, you can't have a good time. I'm very honored to be the marshal. The Crowleys always march.”

        Sister Cookie's father founded Crowley's, an Irish pub in Mount Adams, in 1937. Her brother, Dave, now runs it. More than 50 Crowleys, including Sister Cookie, normally walk the parade route behind the business' banner.

        Sister Cookie's charitable work and its fit with this year's parade theme — “Together We Serve God, Country and Family” — are why she was asked to lead the 2001 St. Patrick's Day parade, said Will O'Neill, parade committee chairman.

        Sister Cookie has taught first grade in Detroit, Lima and Cincinnati Catholic schools, served as a child care worker at St. Joseph's Orphanage and worked as a house parent for 16 years at Boys Hope, a home in Finneytown for boys from troubled families.

        She now works at the Sisters of Charity mother house in Delhi Township, where she helps the retired sisters in their daily activities.

        Her Irish pride is evident in the leprechaun, rainbow and pot of gold marking her office door; the shillelagh, or walking stick, resting against the wall; and the green seen on the Hershey Kisses in her candy jar, Celtic cross around her neck and the shamrocks on her sweat shirt.

        She has visited Ireland twice. After she resigned from Boys Hope, she traveled to County Cork, where her family originated.

        Sister Cookie is eager to march in the parade to further demonstrate her pride in being Irish. She will not let bad weather deter her.

        “The Irish believe the rain just brings a rainbow. The Irish love a rainbow,” she said.

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