For Grace McKee, the South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day parade has been a part of her family for as long as she can remember.
Their involvement stretches back to when her grandfather was part of the Stock Yard Kilty Band, a fixture in the parade since the “Wee Folks of Washtenaw and Talman” began in 1979.
This year McKee, a native of Chicago’s Beverly community, will be parade queen, selected from a field of 12 candidates.
McKee, 26, who now lives in Bridgeport, said she learned she was chosen Feb. Feb. 22 during a fundraiser for the parade.
“I was shocked, I was not expecting it,” she said. “All of the women up there would have been great.”
“Grace has such strong roots to the South Side Irish Parade and the South Side Irish community and truly holds the parade in a special place in her heart,” said Mary Kay Gavin-Marmo, executive director of the Professional Irish Women of Chicago and director of the South Side Irish Parade Queen Contest, in a news release.
The 47th South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade steps off at noon March 16 at 103rd Street and proceeds south along Western Avenue, ending at 114th Street and Western.
McKee’s grandfather, the late Dave McKee Sr., was pipe major for the Kilty Band for more than 28 years, recruiting his four sons — Dave Jr., McKee’s father, along with her uncles Daniel, Mathew and Luke — to the band. Grace also joined the family tradition and played tenor drums until eighth grade.
Matt McKee is pipe major and Grace’s father is drum sergeant for the 104-year-old band. It is one of the oldest continuously running pipe bands in the U.S.
“It’s a real big part of the family,” Grace McKee said. “It’s part of everything we do.”
Apart from the annual South Side parade, the Kilty Band performs at weddings, funerals and other parades in the Chicago area including Fourth of July and Memorial Day.
While not an active player in the organization, McKee said she helps out, such as at the group’s annual Tartan Ball fundraiser.
Apart from the band, McKee said since she was a young girl the St. Patrick’s parade has been part of her family.
“You are there in some capacity,” she said. “Sometimes I feel it’s bigger than Christmas, you have the whole extended family involved.”
While the Kilty Band performs throughout the year, the time approaching St. Patrick’s Day is the band’s busiest, McKee said.
“It’s the most exciting time, this is their time to shine,” she said.
McKee said growing up and watching the parade, she did not really imagine competing to be parade queen, having been so focused on the Kilty Band. She said entered the queen competition in 2023.
The day of the parade involves family gatherings before and after the event, and for those who live around and grew up with the parade it is a full day with the parade as the centerpiece, McKee said.
“If you don’t live on South Side you don’t realize how big this parade is, and being the queen, it’s like a family thing,” she said.
Apart from her parents and a handful of other family, McKee said she hadn’t advertised she applied for queen.
McKee is an alumna of Christ the King School and Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School in Chicago. She holds a bachelor of science degree in aviation management from Southern Illinois University and a master of science in aviation and aerospace sustainability from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida.
She is employed as a senior consultant at Ricondo in Chicago, an aviation consulting firm.
McKee is an active volunteer for Make-A-Wish Foundation and has also been active with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, helping out at fundraising events and also running a marathon to raise funds to support the cause.
McKee was one of 12 candidates who took part in the parade queen selection process. Candidates were interviewed individually by a panel of independent judges including Evergreen Park Mayor Kelly Burke, 2023 Parade Queen Margaret McGann and last year’s queen, Mary Kate Barron.
The parade will be led by the grand marshal, Big Shoulders Fund, and the parade honoree is Mount Sion Program, at Brother Rice High School, a special
education inclusion program designed to meet the unique needs of students with moderate cognitive disabilities or significant learning disabilities.
The parade will feature 100 entries including multiple pipe and drum bands, Irish dancers, marching bands, area parishes and schools, youth athletic teams and small businesses.
