Like father, like son

This he did Monday night at the annual grand marshal installation ceremony, held before a crowd of about 2,000 at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
Gleason’s late father, union legend Thomas “Teddy” Gleason, was grand marshal of the parade in 1984. His son now becomes the first-ever grand marshal to keep the honor in the family.
Gleason paid tribute to his father and thanked his family, which is almost a line of march in itself, consisting as it does of his wife, Catherine, seven daughters, two sons, and eight grandchildren.
“I was 13 when I first marched in the parade and I’m 79 now,” Gleason said. “I was amazed when I got the call and I’m so pleased to be here. I will do everything I can in the future to help this parade,” he added to loud applause from parade delegates and supporters gathered in the Roosevelt.
A decorated World War II veteran, Gleason lost a leg in the vicious fighting against the Japanese on the island of Saipan in 1944.
Gleason, who founded the law firm of Gleason and Mathews, took over as grand marshal from Ford Motor Company executive James O’Connor.
O’Connor assured his successor that he would never forget his most special March 17.
“Time is not only measured by the breaths we take, but by the numbers of moments that take your breath away,” O’Connor said.
Once such moment was when the parade stepped out on Fifth Avenue, grand marshal to the fore.
Tribute was also paid to the new grand marshal during the installation ceremony by Ireland’s consul general in New York, Eugene Hutchinson.
“The parade committee has selected very well. Tommy Gleason will be following in his great father’s footsteps,” Hutchinson said. “Tommy Gleason will have a key and formidable role in delivering this year’s parade, itself a profound celebration of the great legacy of our shared patron saint.”
The parade, he said, would highlight again the unique ties that bind New York and Ireland together.
Former Rep. Tom Manton, the parade’s honorary chairman, said that Gleason’s legal work over the years had probably saved the parade.
Manton also found much common ground with the new grand marshal. Both he and Gleason had grown up on Manhattan’s West Side, had attended St. John’s Law School, served in the United States Marine Corps, and had led the parade as grand marshal.
The chairman of the Parade Committee, John Dunleavy, said that the committee owed a great deal of debt to Gleason and his law firm for the work carried out on behalf of the parade.
Dunleavy said this year’s march would be dedicated to the men and women of the United States armed forces.
The parade was “deeply honored and privileged” to be doing this.
“We hope and pray that those in harm’s way will return safely to the United States,” Dunleavy said.
Grand marshal Gleason’s Irish roots are in Counties Tipperary and Tyrone. He served with the U.S. Marines in the Marshall Islands campaign as well as on the Japanese island of Saipan.
After the war, Gleason went to college and graduated from Manhattan College and later St. John’s.
In his law practice, Gleason has handled a number of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court but in recent years he rose to particular prominence in court battles involving the parade and groups such as the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization.
Gleason, a founding member of the Knights of St. Patrick, will be leading the 243rd consecutive parade when it starts at 11 a.m. sharp on Wednesday, March 17.