Eileen Foley: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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==Biography==

===Early life===

Foley was born '''Helen "Eileen" Dondero''' on February 27, 1918, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.<ref name=uleader/><ref name=scoast2/> She was one of four daughters of Charles and Mary (Carey) Dondero.<ref name=uleader/> Her father, Charles, was the first male baby of [[Italians|Italian]] descent to be born in Portsmouth.<ref name=llport/> Her mother, Mary Carey Dondero, was of [[Irish people|Irish]] descent.<ref name=scoast2/> Her paternal grandparents, who had emigrated from [[Italy]] in 1883, owned and operated the Dondero's Fruit and Vegetable Store on Congress Street in Portsmouth.<ref name=llport>{{cite book| first=Charles| last=McMahon |title=Legendary Locals of Portsmouth: Eileen Dondero Foley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PRX5AAAAQBAJ&q=Mary+Carey+Dondero&pg=PA10|date=2016-02-22 | isbn=9781467100762 }}{{page needed|date=March 2016}}</ref> Eileen Foley and her sisters were raised in an apartment above the family's produce store.<ref name=llport/>

On August 17, 1923, Foley, who was five years old at the time, [[Ribbon-cutting ceremony|cut the silk ribbon at the dedication ceremony]] for the [[Memorial Bridge (Portsmouth, New Hampshire)|Memorial Bridge]], which connects Portsmouth with neighboring [[Kittery, Maine]], over the [[Piscataqua River]].<ref name=uleader/><ref name=cm>{{cite news|first=Holly |last=Ramer |title=N.H., Maine celebrate new Memorial Bridge |url=http://www.concordmonitor.com/news/work/business/7992403-95/nh-maine-celebrate-new-memorial-bridge |work=[[Concord Monitor]] |date=2013-08-08 |access-date=2016-03-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311183741/http://www.concordmonitor.com/news/work/business/7992403-95/nh-maine-celebrate-new-memorial-bridge |archive-date=2016-03-11 }}</ref> The Newsreel Company captured her ribbon cutting on film.<ref name=scoast2/> She then rode across the new bridge with [[Governor of New Hampshire|New Hampshire Governor]] [[Fred H. Brown]] and [[Maine]] [[Governor of Maine|Governor]] [[Percival Proctor Baxter]] as thousands waited to cross the span, which had cost two million dollars to construct.<ref name=uleader/>