N.J. Woman Killed In Parkway Crash Was 'Volunteer Of The Year' In Alcohol, Drug Education

Marie McNally volunteered for a lot of things, but there was one area where she really made her mark.

She was recognized as ”Volunteer of the Year” by a local group in 2015 because of the work she did in drug and alcohol abuse education and awareness, according to her obituary.

She got that award partly because of the work she did at a N.J. high school, once helping to put together an event called ”Every 15 Minutes” that showed the “re-enactment” of the perils of substance abuse and driving.

The idea is that, every 15 minutes, someone dies from an alcohol-related traffic crash.

She was so moved by “Every 15 Minutes,” when she first saw it several years ago, that she joined the New Providence Alliance to Prevent Drug and Alcohol Abuse and volunteered to run the program, according to TAPinto.net.

This past Monday, a cold, icy and snowy day, McNally was killed in a car crash on the Garden State Parkway as she was driving back home to New Providence.

Now family and friends who were touched by her generosity are preparing for a funeral, and reflecting on the impact of her work.

“She made friends with everybody, to my chagrin sometimes,” her husband, Felix, kidded to nj.com, laughing as he said it.

On Monday afternoon, McNally’s 2013 sedan veered left out of the express lane, and crashed down an embankment before striking a tree. She was transported to Raritan Valley Medical Center where died at approximately 6 p.m., according to New Jersey State Police.

She had been driving back home after visiting her mother in Lakewood, nj.com reported.

McNally, who was born in Brooklyn, was a successful salesperson with Verizon Communications, and later as a real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway, before joining Weichert Realty in Summit.

“Marie loved her family and friends, especially her granddaughters; they truly were the light of her life,” according to her obituary from McCracken Funeral Home.

McNally, however, spent much of her time giving to others.

She was a hospice volunteer and a member of the New Providence Municipal Alliance since 2010.

Most notably, she was recognized as Volunteer of the Year by the Local Advisory Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse for her planning and execution of the “E15M” event held at New Providence High School in 2015.

McNally, who said she was “very excited” about the program, told TAPinto.net that her motivation in being involved in drug and alcohol awareness wasn’t necessarily personal. She became involved when her son, Christopher, a 2015 Rutgers graduate, participated as one of the victims in the town’s first presentation in 2010.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at Holy Spirit Church, at 971 Suburban Road Union, on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery East Hanover.

The family will receive their friends at McCracken Funeral Home 1500 Morris Avenue in Union on Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.