Patrick Ross McMahon

1942 - 2016

Patrick Ross McMahon
Jan. 15, 1942 - Jan. 6, 2016
Resident of Santa Clara
Patrick Ross McMahon bid his final farewell on January 6, 2016 after a very lengthy illness. Born on January 15, 1942 in Dublin Ireland, Patrick was the second of five children born to John Francis McMahon of County Cavan and Evelyn Kangley McMahon of County Meath. Patsy, as he was often called, lived in the town of Balbriggan until the age of six when his mother died tragically. The siblings, ages one to eight, were then spread out to be raised by relatives and never lived together as a family again. Patrick was sent to live with his father's unmarried sister, Kitty McMahon, in the village of Mullagh, County Cavan. He lived there until age ten, attending school and enjoying the freedom of a small town with little structure and few rules. While he felt he thrived in that environment, his Aunt found him incorrigible and he was eventually returned to the care of his father. Upon returning to Balbriggan, Patrick excelled at school and ultimately won a scholarship allowing him to continue his education past the age of fourteen. During his time in Balbriggan, Patrick learned Irish Step Dancing, a talent which he eagerly and willingly demonstrated throughout his entire life. He also became very well known for his imitation of a famous Irish football commentator, Michael O'Hehir. With scholarship in hand he attended secondary school at Belcamp College in Dublin, where he lived as a boarder for four years, learning to speak Gaelic fluently.
After turning eighteen, Patrick left Ireland to meet the challenges of the world and moved to England. Life was not as easy as he had imagined and he found himself literally digging ditches, working in a foam factory and setting up plastic ducks at an amusement park. When another of his father's sisters, May Cooney, offered him passage to New York, he jumped at the chance and in 1960 he arrived in the United States. He quickly discovered that he could become a US citizen because his father had become naturalized himself while working in New York during the days of Prohibition. Patrick enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1961, serving almost four years as a ground-to-air radio operator. He was stationed in various places throughout the United States and Canada from the Mojave Desert to Gulfport to Newfoundland. During his time in the military he quickly realized that he needed to pursue further education if he wanted to embark on any kind of a professional career. He took advantage of every opportunity he had to expand his education, attending Victor Valley Junior College and the University of Maryland while still in the Air Force. This hard work paid off and he was eventually awarded a scholarship to Santa Clara University Law School before he had even obtained his undergraduate degree. It was not until June of 1968, when he graduated from law school, that he received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Maryland.
When Patrick first came to Santa Clara for law school he had no viable means of support and no family ties so he looked for a place to live by knocking on doors of homes near the University. He met a woman, Mrs. Marian Englehaupt, who was willing to rent him a room, a total stranger with a strong Irish accent, for $30.00 per month. He lived with her for three years. During law school Patrick gained a reputation for doing well despite rarely attending class. In fact, when he did show up he would frequently get a standing ovation. Highlights of his law school experience included his writing for the Santa Clara Law Review and a Moot Court presided over by the well-known defense attorney, Melvin Belli. It was also during this time that he met his wife to be, Pamela Diebel, an undergraduate at SCU.
Upon graduating from law school and passing the State Bar exam, Patrick went to work as house counsel for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company in San Francisco. He had his first trial within a week of being hired and soon learned that being a trial attorney was his professional calling. After a year of working in insurance defense and honing his litigation skills, he joined the firm of Popelka, Allard et al in San Jose and became a lifelong champion for the "little guy". Two years later Patrick opened his own firm, and so began his life as legal advocate, trial attorney, community activist, staunch supporter of all things Irish and, for a short time, proprietor of Paddy's Irish Pub in downtown San Jose.
Professionally he was a member of the California State Bar, the Santa Clara County Bar Association, the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association (of which he served a term as president), a member of the California Trial Lawyers Association and its Board of Governors and a member of Santa Clara University Law School Board of Visitors.
Throughout his law career, Patrick eagerly took on high profile cases often working pro bono. These included a groundbreaking case about peer-on-peer sexual harassment under Title IX (the facts of which became the basis for a TV movie), an employment law case where long term workers claimed wrongful termination and discrimination based on age, and two cases which involved shunning and breach of trust by church leaders (featured on an episode of 20/20.) Patrick's representation of Louise Mosby from 1978 to 1991 was well known in the local community and involved the loss of her ranch, the Rockin' M, because of fraudulent real estate activity. Two freedom of expression cases which drew national attention included a priest being evicted from his headquarters in Saratoga and the DMV attempting to revoke a license plate which had been issued to a woman, who was a lifelong lover of cats. Patrick provided pro bono representation to a community group who fought successfully to prevent the Westfield Shopping Mall from closing the ice rink at Vallco Fashion Park in Cupertino. He was also at the helm of the 1990's recall efforts of certain Santa Clara Unified School District Board members. As a strong supporter of the figure skating community in the Bay area, he represented skating champion, Rudy Galindo, in a dispute over autobiographical information to be embedded in a permanent art piece at the San Jose Arena. The pinnacle of Patrick's legal career was representing a female student from the East Side Union High School District who broke her neck after diving into a swimming pool. The case was ultimately heard by the California Supreme Court with the Justices unanimously ruling that her coach had been reckless. The case was featured on both Fox News and Good Morning America.
Community affiliations included President of the Irish Social Club of Santa Clara County, Board of Directors of the Irish Network, President of the San Jose Chapter of the Irish Immigration Reform Movement, Member of the National Committee of the American Ireland Fund, Chairman of the San Jose Dublin Sister City organization, President and Lieutenant Governor of the Campbell Optimists, President of the Bellarmine Dad's Club, and President of the Advisory Board of the Center for Literary Arts at San Jose State University. A highlight of Patrick's participation in the Center for Literary Arts was his introduction of the renowned Irish poet, Seamus Heaney, at a San Jose State event. In honor of Patrick's participation in the inauguration of the San Jose Dublin Sister City relationship, a Masters Level Scholarship Program between San Jose State University and Dublin, Ireland, has been established in his name. To date, four students from Dublin College University have been the recipients of the scholarship.
Patrick was also well known for his St. Patrick's Day celebrations at his law office on North First Street in San Jose, where the Irish and the United States flags were flown side by side. He was often the "go to" person for his comments about newsworthy Irish events, such as the Good Friday Irish Peace Process Agreement.
Patrick was an avid sports fan and followed his favorite teams religiously. He would have so enjoyed recent successes of the Giants and the 49ers over the past few years and would have been very excited about Levi Stadium being so close to home. He also was a devoted fan of Irish football and soccer and could often be heard yelling "Up The Dubs" when his teams were on the field.
Above all else, Patrick was devoted to his family. For forty six years he was married to his wife Pamela, who supported him in every endeavor and enabled him to enjoy the many successes he experienced. He was always the first to acknowledge her importance in his life. Together they had two children, Ross (Taisia), a Santa Clara County Public Defender and a daughter, Deirdre (Levi), a special education teacher with the Sunnyvale Elementary School District. He was most proud of their accomplishments in Irish Step Dancing and Pairs Figure Skating, accompanying them to many places for training and competition, including the former Soviet Union and Sun Valley, Idaho. He rarely missed an opportunity to attend a function or activity involving either of the children and enjoyed a very close relationship with them both.
Patrick is also survived by 5 grandchildren Stella, Macy, June, Harrison and Dexter, his siblings, Anthony McMahon, Julia Woodley and John McMahon and their families, a brother-in-law, Dr. Ronald Diebel, and his mother-in-law, Stella Diebel, (who celebrated her 101st birthday last September.) He will also be remembered by many cousins, nieces and nephews and life-long friends in the United States and Ireland.
We have missed you, Patrick, for the last ten years and will continue to miss you always.
Thank you also for the remarkable and loving care provided by the Belmont Village Neighborhood Staff in Sunnyvale over the last six years.
A private burial has already taken place at Oak Hill Cemetery and a Celebration of Life event will be held on Tuesday, January 26 from 5 to 7 pm in the Adobe Lodge at Santa Clara University. All are welcome.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Pat McMahon Masters Level Exchange Scholarship Program are welcome. San Jose Dublin Sister City Program, 189 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose, CA 95113, 408-380-7234. sanjosedublin.org


View the online memorial for Patrick Ross McMahon