Mary Elizabeth Choppa, 1960–2021
NERGC is sad to report the unexpected death of our colleague and friend Mary Choppa on 26 April 2021. She had worked tirelessly to help ensure the success of Virtual NERGC 2021 until two days prior to her passing. Mary was TIARA’s delegate to NERGC since 2007. In this capacity she took on key leadership roles in the planning and execution of our biennial conferences.
For four conferences Mary was the Chair or Co-Chair of Registration with all the attention to detail that position entails. Making sure to get it right for each registrant with their selection of meals, programs, syllabus, etc. is a large task that Mary managed well. Her organizational skills assured that the registration process went smoothly for those attending the conference.
As Volunteer Chair for the 2015, 2017, and 2021 NERGC conferences, Mary worked with multiple individuals, across member organizations, who donate their time to help with the various tasks needed over the days of the conference. Through her own enthusiasm, Mary encouraged many people to volunteer and find roles where their help makes a difference. She was a Conference Chair in 2019.
Based on her many, many contributions to TIARA and NERGC, she was the recipient of NERGC’s Donna Holt Siemiatkoski Volunteer Award in 2019. She will be greatly missed.
