Lebanon, NH – Patrick Lenihan passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on November 7th, at the Woodlands in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
Pat was born in Omaha, Nebraska to Jeanette (Perkins) Lenihan and Francis Lenihan. He attended and graduated from Creighton Preparatory School and Creighton University in Omaha in 1955 and 1959, respectively. He later received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin. He taught Economics at Marquette University for several years and then went on to teach at Eastern Illinois University for 33 years from 1967-2000. He specialized in Labor Economics.
While in Omaha, he met and went on to marry Clara Eugenie “Genie” Osborn in August 1960. They were married for 59 years until her death in 2020. They settled in Charleston, Illinois in 1967 and raised 3 children, Colleen (Tim) O’Meara of Madison, Wisconsin, Michael (Kathleen) Lenihan of Cupertino, California and Sheila (Jim) Feyrer of Hanover, New Hampshire. In 2020, he moved to the Woodlands in Lebanon, New Hampshire to be closer to family.
Pat had a storied career as an Economics professor at EIU but prior to that, he supported himself working a wide variety of jobs starting at age 12. He was a country club caddy, dishwasher and ice cream server, Grand Canyon dining room bus boy, Kellogg’s cereal popper, a brief stint at Storz Brewery and Peace Corps adviser. He might have been too young to serve in World War II, but he was able to be a gunner at Kellogg’s.
Over the decades in Charleston, Pat enjoyed many years of golf with a regular group of golfing buddies. He also held many roles at Charleston Community Theater, including chorus member, lead actor, director, and producer. He and Genie traveled the world with a variety of friends, visiting six of the seven continents. In his years living at the Woodlands, he enjoyed pub nights, movie showings and lively dinner conversations with the many friends he made there, especially Ray, Van, and Connie.
In addition to his children, he leaves behind 7 grandchildren who have fond memories of their 11-year-old birthday trips with their grandparents. They are Colin (Hilary) O’Meara, Clare (Matt) Wenzel, Patrick (Kaya) O’Meara, Thomas Lenihan, Mary, Abigail and Natalie Feyrer. He also was able to enjoy 7 great-grandchildren, Molly, Mark and Ryan O’Meara and Jack, Madelyn, Ben and Charlie Wenzel.
In 2008, Genie and Pat established graduate fellowships at Eastern Illinois University. Memorials in his name may be made out to the Patrick Lenihan Graduate Fellowship in Economics and sent to EIU Foundation at 600 Lincoln Avenue, Charleston, IL 61920
Pat’s family also wants to thank Brian, Sandy, and Jessica and the rest of the crew of caregivers that made his last years as comfortable and fulfilling as possible.
A celebration of his life will be held in Charleston, Illinois with an open house held on Saturday, December 5th from 3-5 at the Charleston House, 956 6th Street.
An online guestbook is available at www.rickerfuneralhome.com.
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