Catherine E. Pardee Memorial Award

Catherine E. Pardee was the Assessor of Orange, Connecticut from 1947 to 1965.

Catherine had served as the first woman President of the Connecticut Association of Assessing Officers (CAAO). She also served as the Secretary of the CAAO for many years.

Catherine also served on the old Board of Governors of the NRAAO for many years, as well as serving for many years as secretary of NRAAO out of the goodness of her heart.

Catherine was the first woman to attain the CAE designation from the then National Association of Assessing Officers (NAAO), now the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO).

In the fall of 1965 a meeting of the NRAAO Board of Governors, at the Hotel Somerset, Boston, Massachusetts was to be along with other assessors from Massachusetts, Connecticut and the Executive Director of IAAO from Chicago, Illinois.

Cay Pardee was supposed to attend that meeting, however, when a Connecticut assessor stopped at her home, on his way to Boston, to pick her up, he was informed that she has passed away during the night.

Needless to say the sad news upset everyone in attendance that had known Catherine Pardee, an individual who was honest, fair and recognized as a professional in the field of assessment.

The Annual Catherine E. Pardee Memorial Award is given in recognition of outstanding and dedicated service to the NRAAO, which is what Cay Pardee gave of herself so unselfishly.

The sole recipient of this most prestigious award is designated and voted on by the past presidents of NRAAO annually.

The Catherine E. Pardee Memorial Award was created unanimously by the NRAAO Board of Directors at the annual conference meeting held at the Hotel America in Hartford, Connecticut in May, 1966.

The first Catherine E. Pardee Memorial Award was presented at the 1967 NRAAO Conference in Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Herbert Shay, assessor of Fairfield, Connecticut was the first recipient.

Since that time the Catherine E. Pardee Memorial Award has been spread quite evenly among all participating Provinces and States of the NRAAO.

YearState/ProvinceName
2026Rhode IslandPatti Moreau
2025New JerseyLiz Simpkins
2025New JerseyLee Ann Russ
2024MarylandSterling Testerman
2023ConnecticutChris Kelsey
2023ConnecticutMary Huda
2022New HampshireBill Ingalls
2021New JerseyMarie Procacci
2020Rhode IslandPatti Moreau
2019New HampshireEllen Brideau
2018ConnecticutMarsha Standish
2017MarylandBryan Levenson
2016New HampshireKaren Marchant
2015New JerseyJames Mancini
2014Rhode IslandViviane Valentine
2013MassachusettsEverett “Gus” Martin
2012ConnecticutBetsy Quist
2011Rhode IslandKaren Beattie
2011ConnecticutDonna Ralston
2010MarylandLeslie Grant Pruitt
2009New YorkThomas & Patricia Frey
2008Rhode IslandRaymond E. Beattie, Jr.
2008Rhode IslandLinda L. Cwiek
2007MassachusettsEdward Childs
2007MassachusettsMolly Reed
2006New JerseyThomas G. Glock
2005New JerseyDorothy S. Kreitz
2005New JerseyBernard Haney
2004MainePaul G. Lesperance
2003MarylandHoward Levenson
2002ConnecticutDonna Price-Bekech
2001MaineGerald Daigle
2000New HampshireLaura Thibodeau
1999DelawareEddy J. Parker
1998New JerseyFrank Carlet, Esq.
1997MarylandJames Sorisi
1996ConnecticutRichard Prendergast
1995New HampshireKaren Marchant
1994ConnecticutAnthony Homicki
1994ConnecticutJane Grigsby
1993MaineMichael Austin
1992Rhode IslandStanley Severance
1992Rhode IslandAngelo Marino
1991New YorkJames Howarth
1990New JerseyCarolyn Landi
1990New JerseyVictor A. Hartsfield, Sr.
1989ConnecticutRobert Coyne
1988MassachusettsAlbert E. Mercier
1987New BrunswickIan MacMichael
1986New YorkHollis Sweet
1984Rhode IslandRichard M. Bartlett
1970MassachusettsBernard Shadrawy
1967ConnecticutHerbert Shay