Pat Mahoney served as the chair of St. Angela's Patrons Board for many years until his sudden death in March of 2015.  His spirit is still an essential part of the Board, and lives in the memories of all the children and staff members with whom he had nearly daily contact.  This story was shared by an alumna volunteer.

I met Pat Mahoney in the Fall of 2010.  I had been helping in a first-grade classroom, and Pat was pushing a broom in the hall.  I thought he was a volunteer janitor.  Near the end of the year I met him under very different circumstances.

Our three-year-old grandson had been living with us.  Neither of his parents were able to care for him.  My son and daughter-in-law, both make poor decisions because of serious emotional and mental illness, had dropped him off at a police station the summer of 2008.   He was 18 months old.  However late 2010, his mom picked him up and decided to keep him.  Her mental state was continuing to decline and her living arrangements chaotic.  My husband and I decided to pursue custody.  We contacted several attorneys.    We could not find one willing to take our case.  Illinois is a very conservative state.  There had never been a successful case of grandparents being awarded custody of a child, unless the child had already experienced serious physical abuse while under the care of parents. 

In late December 2010, I was standing in the hall outside the principal’s office, my mind going in all directions.  Ms. Lawlor, the principal then, walked up to me and asked me if there was anything she could do.  I remember looking at her as if her words fell from the sky.  I said, “Yes, I need an attorney in DuPage County.”  She laughed and told me that if I needed a Cook County attorney, she could easily hook me up, but she said she was going to give it some thought.  That afternoon, she let me know that Pat Mahoney wanted to talk with me.  I thanked her but wondered why the janitor wanted to talk to me!

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