Pat Corcoran P ’98, ’00’s connection to The Harley School spans generations, but it is her deep curiosity, sense of stewardship, and commitment that truly defines her life. As the parent of Harley graduates Karen Yeoman ’98 and Dan Yeoman ’00, the grandparent of Chayanne Johnson Rooney ’05 (story follows) and Jennika Johnson Forshay ’07, and a longtime family friend to Lenura Aliyeva ’17, Pat’s ties to Harley are both personal and enduring. Over the years, Harley has been more than a school for her—it has been a living community, one whose history and values she has come to know intimately.
Through her extensive volunteer work with the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery, Pat became deeply engaged in learning about Harley’s founder, Harriet Bentley. Her research culminated in a written piece, Become What Thou Art: The Legacy of Harriet Bentley (1885–1918), Founder of The Harley School, made possible through meetings with members of Bentley’s family. In June 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pat shared Bentley’s story with the wider community in a Zoom presentation for the Rochester Public Library, drawing poignant parallels between Bentley’s death from the Spanish Flu in 1918 and the global moment we were collectively navigating.
Several years ago, members of Harriet Bentley’s family visited Harley and donated journals, photographs, and books to the School—materials that Pat eagerly looks forward to exploring as she continues to help tell the story of Harley’s founder.
Beyond her research on Harriet Bentley, Pat has been a tireless advocate for community engagement, historical preservation, and volunteerism through her decades of work with the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery. She helped expand a volunteer gardening program that flourished during the pandemic, offering people a way to connect, contribute, and care for a place she often describes as “a jewel of this community.” Over the years, she has also served as the organization’s president, a tour guide, speaker, and committee chair, blending historical research with educational programming that invites others into Rochester’s shared story.
Now a resident of St. John’s Meadows, Pat continues to live out the belief that purpose does not diminish with age—it deepens. Her ongoing volunteer work and recent recognition for her advocacy around purposeful aging reflect a life guided by empathy, curiosity, and service. In many ways, Pat Corcoran embodies the Harley ethos itself: that learning is lifelong, community matters, and meaningful engagement—whether with history, people, or place—has the power to shape not just institutions, but entire lives.
