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Patrick KeIIy: Family Man
<br />Patrick Kelly, it would seem, is the original rnultitasker,
<br />finding time to be with his kids while maintaining a schedule
<br />that sees him at the office or at meetings at all hours. Far from
<br />resenting it, all three of his offspring — Joe, 24, Shannon, 23,
<br />and Brigid, 12 — delight in sharing time with him. As Shan-
<br />non says, "I never felt less imporant than his work. He's really
<br />good at incorporating family time with whatever he has on his
<br />plate."
<br />One of Kelly's secrets for family bonding is his creation of
<br />unique traditions. According to his wife Mary, a Special Edu-
<br />cation professional for the St. Paul School District, Kelly has
<br />always appreciated the power of ritual, from lighting candles at
<br />Mass to saying his prayers, which he still does each evening.
<br />His family rituals tend to take a less serious tone. There's
<br />the morning when he pulls up with a car full of petunias and
<br />At home, Shannon says, her father favors Irish music
<br />played so loudly she has to holler to be heard. She also
<br />remembers her sister's baby years, when her father would play
<br />Frank Sinatra while singing and dancing for Brigid.
<br />Now that she's 12, Brigid likes to make up dances with her
<br />father. "A couple of years ago," she recalls, "he found a Brave -
<br />heart CD that had the coolest song on there — just drums.
<br />My dad and I made up a dance where we would come running
<br />in from different parts of the house with our arms swinging
<br />and dance together. We showed all my friends and my mom. I
<br />bet we showed her that dance 50 times."
<br />Brigid is also enjoying learning the game of golf from her
<br />dad, calling him "one of my role models in the game." At
<br />24, Kelly's son Joe is a bit more reserved in his judgment of
<br />his father's skills. Asked how he is as a golfer, Joe hesitates a
<br />impatiens for the front walks. That's how Shannon knows it's
<br />officially spring. There's the Christmas lights that go up in
<br />early December and stay until late January — a riotous collec-
<br />tion of bulbs adorning every bush, tree and architectural fea-
<br />ture, all plugged into timers staged for different hours of the
<br />evening. And then there are the Tiki torches, a blazing cele-
<br />bration Kelly planted in the front lawn each time he went to
<br />retrieve either Joe or Shannon on breaks from college. The
<br />torches, which stayed lit for 24 hours, announced to the kids'
<br />friends that they were home and ready for company.
<br />The hospitality at the Kelly house is well -known to kids
<br />and adults alike. As their friend Father Thomas Hunstiger
<br />describes it, "The doors of the Kelly household are always
<br />open to anybody. It's one of those places where you can drop
<br />by on a moment's notice and feel welcome."
<br />In addition to family time, such as the wicked poker games
<br />which he tends to win, Kelly also ensures that each child gets
<br />special attention. For Shannon, concerts were often the occa-
<br />sion for time with Dad. "He's been taking me to live concerts
<br />since I was five," she says. "He was always the chaperone for
<br />my friends too, so he sat through some pretty awful music."
<br />20 Bench &Bar of Minnesota A July 2006
<br />You might consider
<br />Pat Kelly a baseball
<br />and softball fan, given
<br />that his resume
<br />includes 15 years'
<br />service coaching his
<br />kids and others' on
<br />various youth teams
<br />and serving as both
<br />commissioner of the
<br />Minnesota Little
<br />League and president
<br />of the Hightower
<br />Babe Ruth League.
<br />"He knows that you're
<br />only as good as your
<br />weakest player," says
<br />Jane Burd, mother of
<br />one of his players.
<br />"So he makes sure
<br />that your weakest
<br />players get better.
<br />He never writes any-
<br />one off."
<br />moment before selecting the right
<br />answer. "Well, you can tell that he works a lot." Apparently
<br />Joe means his dad is getting more of a workout than the
<br />other golfers on the fairway — a circumstance that earned
<br />him the name Machine Gun Kelly from the grounds crew
<br />when the two were at a Florida course. Even so, Joe admires
<br />his father's poise. "It's got to be frustrating hitting 12 balls
<br />off the first tee, but he just grabs another ball and hits
<br />away," Joe says. "He never throws his clubs or shows any
<br />sign that he's getting mad."
<br />If Joe doesn't aspire to his father's golf game, he certainly
<br />draws lessons from him otherwise. Like Shannon, who says
<br />"If I'm half the person he is I would be so proud," Joe says of
<br />his dad, "If there's any one person that I would say is my
<br />hero, it would be him. I remember being real little and see-
<br />ing him argue in court and having his client come up,
<br />thanking not just my father but also my mother and me, for
<br />having such a great father. When you see just how much
<br />people appreciate what he does, you think `If I could be half
<br />as passionate about my work as he is, I could make such a
<br />difference. "'
<br />www.mnbar.org
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