On Jan. 9, Kathleen Maura Rice was sworn in as the first female district attorney for Nassau County. The Cradle of Aviation in Garden City, filled with dignitaries and many friends, was the setting for this gala event.

Rice is one of 10 children, six girls and four boys. Her place in the family is seven. She grew up in Garden City on Nassau Boulevard and attended St. Joseph's grade school and the Garden City junior and senior high schools. Kathleen's parents, Laurence and Christine, currently live in Garden City.

Kathleen remembers her roots with fondness and she remembered to invite people who were important in her life growing up. Some old-time friends of her family were in attendance, including Eileen Gallagher, Libby Huschel, Ed Murphy, Jean and Tony Earley, Dr. Annie Kelly and people from her school days, including Carol Rilling, her junior high school English teacher, and Patricia Dolan, her nurse at the high school. Kathleen didn't forget her merchant friends from Nassau Boulevard either - Adelphi Deli, Personal Touch and Lougie the shoemaker.

Those in attendance got to see a little girl's dream come true as Rice's father held the family Bible upon which Kathleen placed her right hand to swear in. As Robert A. McDonald, Esq., the master of ceremonies and a friend of Kathleen's reminded his colleagues, "She is hard working, one of the best and she enforces the law."