All-University Recipients
Service to Marquette Award
LAWRENCE M. KEAN, BUS AD '74, GRAD '09, AND JANE NIEDEREHE KEAN, NURS '74 Wauwatosa, Wis.
Marquette has always meant a lot to Larry and Jane Kean. It was where they first met, thanks to a fix-up by matchmaking friends and fellow classmates Rick and Nancy Stanley. It became home away from home for daughters Molly, Comm ’06, and Brenna Kean Vogel, Arts ’03, as well as a familiar visiting spot for daughter Maura. And it continues to pull them back as active alumni who are always ready to step up and support their alma mater.
Larry spent a number of years on the College of Business Administration’s Alumni Association Board of Directors, including serving as board president in 1996. He sat on the search committee for a new dean in the late 1990s, served as director and treasurer of the Marquette Minutemen (predecessor to the Blue & Gold Club), and volunteered with the Hank Raymonds Auction Committee when the auction was just getting off the ground.
Meanwhile, Jane has been active with the Association of Marquette University Women, especially with the Advent Luncheon and scholarship committees, and is former treasurer of AMUW. She has also volunteered with the College of Nursing’s 75th Anniversary Committee. Jane and Larry both served on their class reunion committees four times, with Larry serving as committee chair in 2004, and they’ve twice hosted Marquette students for Supper for 12 Strangers.
Of course, Larry and Jane found more than just true love on campus. Larry, who recently retired after nearly 30 years as CFO of the A&A Manufacturing Co. in New Berlin, Wis., appreciates the strong business foundation he gained at Marquette. “I was fortunate to begin my career working for a Big 8 international accounting firm,” he says. “The Marquette connection has continued to open many doors for me here in the Milwaukee community and even nationally. My position at A&A likely came as a result of my Marquette degree.”
More than three decades after his first degree, Larry returned to Marquette for his M.B.A. “I had a new generation of professors, and I came to appreciate Marquette all the more with this adult perspective,” he says. Jane’s experiences at Marquette have influenced the way she approached her work as a nurse, stay-at-home mother and dedicated community volunteer. She and Larry have given their time and talents to several community organizations and are particularly passionate about supporting Catholic education.
“At Marquette, I grew to know myself with strengths and limitations through experiences and interactions in the residence halls, classroom and clinical areas, with faith always being an important influence,” Jane says. “Faith is an important guide in my life and has helped me to be a ‘quiet’ leader in service to others to the best of my ability.”
Fun facts about Larry:
Hometown: Chicago
Favorite quote: "From former Los Angeles Lakers Coach Pat Riley, quoting his father’s last words to him in an article in Sports Illustrated: 'Just remember, somewhere, someplace, sometime, you’re going to have to plant your feet, make a stand and kick some butt. And when that time comes, you do it.' While Riley related how he used that quote to spur the Lakers to victory in the 1985 NBA championship series against the Celtics, I consider that quote whenever faced with challenges that require moral courage to do the right thing.”
Dream dinner guests: “My parents. They have been gone awhile now, and I would love to go back over and learn more about their early lives, how they came to be married and parents of five boys, and their memories of my childhood. Of course, I would tell them how much I love them and how much I appreciate all they did for us. I hope I have made them proud.”
Marquette staff who had an impact: “Al McGuire and Hank Raymonds. I started at Marquette in the glory years of Marquette basketball. My freshman year we were unbeaten and ranked No. 2 when we were upset in the NCAAs. That started a lifetime love affair with Marquette basketball. I have had season tickets ever since my freshman year. I camped out for them as a student as student seating was assigned in those days. I took Hank’s Theory of Coaching Basketball class as an elective course.”
Favorite Marquette memories: “Meeting Jane in a fix-up blind date arranged by our good friends and classmates Rick and Nancy Stanley. Also, Maurice Lucas drilling a shot at the buzzer at the Milwaukee Arena to defeat the University of Wisconsin–Madison in a come-from-behind win, followed by a glorious snowstorm in the jubilant walk back to campus.”
Career he aspired to in grade school: “A Catholic priest. I attended a Catholic grade school with everyone — thousands of kids — from the neighborhood. The school was run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of LaGrange, and I had nuns as my teachers all through middle school. Vocations to religious life were highly encouraged. The life of a priest, offering the sacraments, bringing the faith to others, was very appealing at that age. I went on to the Archdiocesan High School Seminary in Chicago, but found in my teen years that celibacy was not for me. I left the seminary system and came to Marquette, but at the seminary I had four great years of faith formation and Catholic leadership training.”
Marquette legacy: Brother Tim, Bus Ad ’86, and daughters Brenna Vogel, Arts ’03, and Molly Kean, Comm ’06.
Fun facts about Jane:
Hometown: Fond du Lac, Wis.
Favorite poem: “ ‘Desiderata’ by Max Ehrman, which I first learned during my Marquette days and we have hanging on our family room wall.”
Marquette faculty who had an impact: “Margarett Schlientz, who provided support and encouragement to me while I was a student and after I graduated.”
Favorite Marquette memories: “Residence hall life, forming friendships that continue to the present time, meeting Larry and Evans Scholars events.”
Career she aspired to in grade school: “I wanted to be a pediatrician because of the admiration I had for my female pediatrician’s caring manner as I experienced a lot of illness as a kid.”
Marquette legacy: “Two daughters: Molly Kean, Comm ’06, and Brenna Kean Vogel, Arts ’03. I also have 12 first cousins who attended Marquette from the late 1950s to mid-1970s, and there were three to five of them at Marquette during each of my years at Marquette.”
Most influential people: “Both the pediatrician above, whom I got to know personally, and my paternal grandma, who made me feel special as one of six kids. Also, my parents, who gave me the opportunity to attend Marquette and were models of service to others.”
