Saturday, November 13, 2010
Because I've been out in Indiana for over twenty-five years now, it took me a longer time than the rest of the Fallons to get to know Pat. But as time passed, and as I put together the impressions gathered during the all too few and all too brief visits with Pat and Peter, a clear picture began to emerge. And what I saw was a woman fiercely devoted to her family. Pat's love for, nurturing of, and pride in Barbara has always been obvious to anyone who spent even a brief time with her. There is clearly a lot to be proud of in Barbara, who is as mature as she is talented, which is saying an awful lot. And much of what there is to be proud of in Barbara derives from Pat's and Peter's love and nurturing. And Pat loved Peter; she was a source of strength for him and good times and bad.
Pat had more than her share of good qualities. Two stand out for me, aside from her love of family and devotion to mothering Barbara. One was her honesty; I could always trust Pat to speak her mind and not to pull punches. The other was a gift for including people, for drawing people in. I'm sorry to say that I've become aware of something like the full extent of this quality only after we gathered to say goodbye to her earlier this week. If there was a member of the Leahy family who had fallen off the grid in one way or another, Pat found them and welcomed them back into the fold. I heard more than one story of Pat's generosity along these lines, but I was most struck most by the story of her nephew Jonathan. This remarkably mature and likable young man's obvious love for Pat struck me as a reflection of her own love, and it reminded me that I will continue to see Pat in the faces of those she loved, and especially in the faces of Peter and Barbara.
Steve Fallon
South Bend, Indiana
November 13,2010
