Patrick Joseph Foley

• 

Foley, Patrick Joseph Former Federal Administrative Law Judge and U.S. Attorney in MN, champion of working people and the disadvantaged, passed away at the age of 86 in Florida. Our beloved Father, Patrick Joseph Foley, at the age of 86, passed away Tuesday, September 12 after a brief and mercifully painless battle with cancer. His Memorial will be held Saturday, June 10th at 10 AM at St. Felix Church in Wabasha, MN. He was a wonderful father, grand-father, friend, teacher, mentor, advisor, ally, and explorer. He was our hero. He was loved and looked up to by us all. A brilliant man, he was a student of physics, philosophy, neurology, and a big fan of the opera. He loved Shakespeare and had hundreds of books exploring and analyzing the works of the Bard. He loved the New York Times, which he read avidly every day. Dad was born on May 10, 1930 in Wabasha, MN. He was the 9th of 10 children born to John R. and Ellen Brennan Foley. He attended St. Felix school in Wabasha, MN from grade school through High School. After graduating from St. Felix, he joined the Navy and served on the USS Missouri in the communication room in the years following World War II. After his time in the Navy, Dad attended St. Thomas College in St. Paul and graduated from Catholic University Law School in Washington D.C. a few years later. He was very proud of being named to the school law review his first year in law school. After graduating from law school in 1956, he practiced law in Wabasha at the Foley and Foley law firm with his brother Daniel Foley. That summer he was appointed Probate Judge of Dodge County, MN by then Governor Orville Freeman in 1957. Dad worked at his brother Jack's law firm of Foley and Foley in Washington DC while Jack was a member of Congress from 1959 1961. Dad was a staunch Progressive and Democrat in the traditions of FDR, Kennedy, and Humphrey. He was an early supporter of Civil, Voting, and Equal Rights. He was involved with many political campaigns, including assisting with the Congressional campaigns of his brothers Gene and Jack and with those of his nephew Tom Foley, former Ramsey County Attorney. He worked closely with Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey. Dad was a proud liberal and a lifelong DFLer. His father, John R. Foley, was the parliamentarian at the convention founding the DFL Party and Dad was an enthusiastic supporter throughout his life. He always impressed upon us the importance of the Labor Movement and why it is so important for workers to have a place at the table when considering wages, safety, benefits, and working conditions. We remember him diligently working for Progressive candidates throughout his years in private practice - making phone calls, knocking doors, and encouraging contributions. For decades, he supported a long list of Democratic candidates for office and elected officials both in Minnesota and around the country. He served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in Minnesota during the Kennedy Administration. He was nominated to serve as U.S. Attorney by U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy and appointed to that position by President Lyndon Johnson. He served from 1966 1969 and at that time, he was the youngest U.S. Attorney appointed to the office. After serving as U.S. Attorney, he was in private practice for many years thereafter, working with Eugene A. Rerat's law firm, the William H. DeParcq firm, and others. He practiced personal injury law and represented injured railroad workers and people hurt on the job in workers' compensation claims. A proud champion of everyday people, he fought consistently for social justice throughout his private and public career as an attorney and judge. As part of his personal injury practice, he became very interested in toxicology and neuroscience and became an expert on the effects of toxins on cognition and the brain. This expertise would serve him well in his nearly two decades as a Federal Administrative Law Judge for the Social Security Administration in both Buffalo, NY and Tampa, FL, serving from 1994 - 2013. Because of his efforts, thousands of families and individuals were helped who may have otherwise fallen through the cracks of our society. Awarding over $200 million per year in benefits, we called him the billion-dollar judge for the poor. He was one of the highest performing judges in his office, and according to the New York Times, he was listed as one of the most liberal judges in the country. His rulings were seldom overturned even though he only denied a small percentage of applicants. He said he knew which neuro-psychological tests to order, he used the results to make his decisions. A big fan of opera, Dad wrote a libretto for an opera, based upon the Greek writer Sophocles. He loved attending the opera, and even appeared as a supernumerary (extra cast member) in Anton Coppola's opera, Sacco and Vanzetti in 2001. He loved it that he was able to participate as a 'super' in the world premiere, and even was able to sing during the opera when all the 'supers' were on stage together. He also sang on the steps of Carnegie Hall and on Galway Bay. He was very proud to proclaim that he was the first sitting federal judge to appear as a jurist in a world premiere of an opera. Like his father, who was one of the first MN State Conservation Commissioners, Dad instilled in us a reverence for nature, an appreciation for the natural wonder around us, and the need to be good custodians of the Earth for future generations. In the same spirit, he had great respect for Indigenous people, their wisdom, and traditions. (Continued next column)

Published on March 19, 2017