Hall of Fame
Gail Mariano is the 2022 honorary inductee and is the beloved wife of recently retired Director of Athletics Tony Mariano. Gail served as the matriarch of the Norwich University Athletics family over the last 40-plus years helping countless coaches and families.
Mariano was born and raised in Rome, N.Y., and graduated from Rome Free Academy, the same high school as her husband, Tony. After high school, Mariano attended SUNY Potsdam, before graduating and working at Revere Copper and Brass in Rome as a cost accountant.
She met Tony in July of 1978 and moved to Northfield in August where Tony became the head men’s soccer coach and assistant men’s ice hockey coach.
“He dropped me on the doorstep and immediately began soccer season. Because of my life as a coach’s wife, I could relate to what future wives would experience. It was important to me to welcome them into the Norwich Athletic community as I was welcomed by other coaches’ wives. When I arrived, I was picked up by the wife of the head of the physical education department (physical education and athletics were two different departments then) and taken to a Newcomers Tea. By virtue of being the wife of a faculty or staff member, you were automatically a member of the Norwich Women’s Club. This was a social club. This was like the life of a military wife. Over the years, these practices ended,”
Mariano said. After getting settled in, Mariano did a short stint working in the Norwich bookstore, eventually moving up to Jackman to the Development Office, where she worked until the birth of her son in 1980.
Mariano became a stay-at-home mom until her son was in first grade. She then became a pharmacy technician at Northfield Pharmacy, where she worked for 34 years.
“This job allowed me to get to know the Northfield community, which I love. When Tony became the Athletic Director in 1992, it was very important to us for the athletic department and families to become part of our family. I also adopted many of the student athletes as my own,” Mariano said.
“I’m very proud of my son, Tom (Major Gift Officer at Colgate University), my daughter-in-law Missy (head field hockey coach at Hamilton College), granddaughter Maggie (seven years old), grandson Tucker (five years old) and of course my husband, Tony, without whom I wouldn’t be here.”
She attends nearly every home Norwich sporting event and has hosted athletic staff members and their families at her home for the annual Northfield Labor Day Parade and the end of year athletics staff party.
