Marie Costa
Honorary Marshal - 2018
Marie Costa has been a dedicated Lion International Service member since the early nineties, when she was the director of the Ophthalmology department at UMNDJ in Newark, NJ. She is a descendant of Polish immigrants and is heavily involved in the Portuguese community through her marriage to Casmiro Costa, who recently passed away.
As a nurse for over 45 years, Marie has always displayed compassion, love, and kindness, especially when her patients were Portuguese, in which case she would treat them like family. There were times when she needed clarification of what a patient was requesting and she would call her husband, Casmiro to translate in order to provide the patient with the best care and ensure that they would be well informed.
In 1995, while serving as a member of Lions International, she and her daughter spearheaded a project through Bishop George AHR High School allowing individuals to donate used reading glasses for the United Nations to distribute to those less fortunate. In the past 20 years, Marie has collected thousands of reading glasses, and continues to do so yearly.
Another project that she so eloquently coordinated was the international exchange program for Portuguese doctors. In doing so, various innovative surgical procedures learned in the United States for retina and cataracts surgery were implemented in Portugal advancing their services.
Marie is a licensed nurse in New Jersey and New York, and is a founder of the Association of Nursing. She is also a member of various Polish-American organizations, but she feels Portuguese at heart. In addition to her nursing degree, she also has a Master’s degree in Business Administration. Marie also has three grandchildren that reside in Staten Island, New York.