Awardees announced for annual Red Mass to honor those in service to legal field

The St. Thomas More Society of Worcester County will honor the following individuals at its 66th annual Red Mass on Oct. 27 at 10 a.m. at St. Paul Cathedral, Worcester. A brunch following will be held in the cenacle on the lower level of the Cathedral.  

Distinguished Judicial Officer Award

Hon. Serge Georges, Jr. was appointed as an associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2020. Previously he sat as a justice of the Boston Municipal Court. While at the BMC, Judge Georges presided over the Dorchester Drug Court, which provides intensive supervised probation and mandatory treatment to those suffering from substance abuse disorders.    

The son of Haitian immigrants, Judge Georges grew up in Dorchester and was active in parish life at St. Kevin Church. He attended Boston College High School and Boston College, where he lettered in football. Judge Georges graduated from Suffolk University Law School in 1996. His long and distinguished legal career has included stints at Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster, P.C. and Todd & Weld, LLP. In 2007, he joined Sawyer & Stadfeld, P.C., where he became a partner. He also served as Managing Director at Major, Lindsey & Africa, LLC. Thereafter, he started a solo practice where he continued to provide stellar representation to his many clients in the areas of commercial and business litigation, criminal defense, and a wide range of civil disputes.

Judge Georges has served on the Board of Governors of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Lawyers and was the president of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association in 2013. For many years he has served as an adjunct faculty member at Suffolk University Law School and UMass Law School in Dartmouth. Judge Georges has also served on the Board of Trustees at Boston College High, and often makes mention of how influential his Catholic schooling and upbringing has been in his personal and professional life. In 2020, BC High honored Judge Georges with the James E. Cotter ’55 Courage Award, which is presented to a member of the BC High community in recognition of his courage in the face of adversity, his tenacious spirit and his force of will.

Judge Georges and his wife Michelle reside in the Boston area and have two daughters, Olivia and Samantha.
   
Msgr. F. Stephen Pedone Distinguished Attorney Award

Attorney Gerard T. Donnelly of Boylston is a partner in the Worcester law firm of Hassett & Donnelly, P.C. A graduate of Shrewsbury High School, Worcester State University and Western New England School of Law, Attorney Donnelly has been a member of the Massachusetts bar since 1989. He began his legal career as an insurance adjustor and investigator while working his way through law school and supporting his young and growing family. His first job after graduating from law school was with the Worcester law firm of Healey & Rocheleau and he has never left. Under the eventual leadership of Attorney Donnelly and Attorney David Hassett the firm grew from a single office firm with a handful of attorneys into a constantly growing and dynamic firm with seven offices across the northeast, including Boston and New York. However the mother ship of the firm has continued to be in downtown Worcester. In 2000, the firm was renamed and rebranded as Hassett & Donnelly, P.C.
Attorney Donnelly's diverse practice is focused in the areas of insurance defense, various business related disputes, defense of municipalities, and a wide array of other civil matters. He is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; United States District Court (Massachusetts); and the United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.  

In addition to being an exceptionally accomplished lawyer, Attorney Donnelly is widely regarded as a man of good humor, humility, compassion and decency. He has long been involved in his faith community, having served as a religious education teacher at St. Mary Parish in North Grafton when his family called that town home. Since moving to Boylston and joining St. Mary of the Hills Parish, he has chaired the parish’s annual diocesan appeal and volunteered as a coach for the Catholic Youth Council. Attorney Donnelly and his wife, Nancy are big proponents of Catholic education having sent their children to St. John’s High School, Notre Dame Academy and Assumption University.  

Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan Ecumenical Award

Woodrow Adams, Jr. is an assistant chief court officer for the Massachusetts Trial Court and is assigned primarily to the Worcester County Courthouse complex. Mr. Adams grew up in Worcester and is a graduate of Doherty Memorial High School. In 2021, his family experienced an unspeakable tragedy when a fire ripped through his childhood home and took the lives of three family members: his father, his grandmother and an uncle.

In an effort to honor his lost family members, he redoubled his efforts to be of service to the community through this work and leadership at 508 Forever Young, a non-profit he founded in 2017 to help ensure underprivileged children in the Worcester area have essentials when they start the school year. The organization’s signature event is the annual backpack giveaway program has ensured that thousands of school children begin the school year poised for success.  

508 Forever Young has partnered with the Catholic church to offer positive, sports-based outlets for children from all walks of life in the Worcester area. Mr. Adams also volunteers his time as a director of the youth basketball league at St. Peter Parish in Worcester.

In recognition of his service to the community, he was honored in 2023 as an inductee to the Academy of Distinguished Alumni of the Worcester Public Schools. He was also recognized last year with the Worcester County Bar Association’s Liberty Bell Award which is given to a non-lawyer who has promoted a better understanding of the rule of law and respect for the courts and legal system. Mr. Adams is an active member of the New Praise Cathedral Worship Center, Worcester.  

Catholic Layperson Award

Luke LaGorce is a court officer for the Massachusetts Trial Court, assigned primarily to the Worcester County Courthouse complex. Kathleen LaGorce is a sessions clerk for the Worcester Housing Court. This married couple is active in parish life at St. Peter Parish in Worcester.    

Mr. LaGorce is a graduate of Our Lady of Angels Elementary School and Holy Name High School. He has been employed as a court officer for the Massachusetts Trial Court for 21 years, working in Clinton and Worcester during his tenure. He is the president of the Massachusetts Court Officers Association, an organization comprised of 900 members across the Commonwealth.  Throughout his more than two decades of service to the Trial Court, Mr. LaGorce has distinguished himself as an exceptionally committed public servant who interacts with the public and the bar with dignity, respect and compassion.  

Kathleen LaGorce is a graduate of Venerini Academy, St. Peter-Marian High School and Worcester State University. She has devoted 24 years of service to the Massachusetts Trial Court.  In addition to her duties as a sessions clerk, Mrs. LaGorce is the Worcester Housing Court’s liaison for the disabled, where she is responsible to ensure that those suffering from disabilities are treated with respect and given appropriate accommodations and access to justice. During her years at the Housing Court, she has earned a well deserved reputation as a very talented and kind member of the staff who treats everyone she encounters with understanding and respect.  
Mr. and Mrs. LaGorce volunteer extensively at the St. Peter’s food pantry which is overseen by Katie’s mother, Mary Shea Stratford, a retired clerk of the Worcester Superior Court and the 1993 recipient of the Catholic Layperson Award. They also have leadership roles in the food pantry’s efforts during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. For the past seven years they have been actively involved in helping upwards of 500 families each year get a holiday meal. This family tradition of service has also been passed down to their children. Their daughter, Maeve is a student at Clark University and son James is senior at Doherty Memorial High School, and both are also active in parish life at St. Peter’s.  

The St. Thomas More Society is founded upon the personal qualities exhibited by St. Thomas More, a statesman, author, and former chancellor of England. St. Thomas More was beatified in 1886 and canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935.

The term “Red Mass” is named after the color of the vestments worn by the celebrants and judges attending the King’s bench in Westminster, England.  In keeping with tradition, the deep red vestments are still worn each year at the Red Mass.  

The Red Mass is open to the public. Those interested in attending the reception may contact Attorney Thomas V. Murray, Jr. at (508) 754-4900 or at tvm@murraylawyers.com. There is a $50.00 cost for the reception.