[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 156 (Friday, October 31, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO JOHN M. CORCORAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 30, 2003

  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, October 27, 2003 I attended a 
Mass of Christian Burial for John M. Corcoran of Massachusetts. The 
Mass, held at St. Elizabeth's Church in Milton, Massachusetts 
celebrated the life of a very special person. I offer my condolences to 
John's two sons, John and Thomas; his sisters, Mary, Theresa, Claire, 
Bernadette and Frances, and his two brothers, Joe and Leo. I would also 
ask unanimous consent to enter into the Congressional Record the Boston 
Globes's obituary, that was so eloquently written by Tom Long.

       John Corcoran, Developer of Real Estate, Good Will; at 80

       John M. Corcoran grew up in a triple-decker at the end of 
     the driveway to St. Margaret's Hospital in Dorchester, and he 
     never forgot where he came from. After earning millions as a 
     real estate developer, he contributed time and money in the 
     creation of St. Mary's Women and Infant Center, a 
     multiservice agency for Dorchester residents that was born in 
     1993 after St. Margaret's closed.
       ``He knew what it was like to live in poverty, and knew 
     what a difference it could make when you had support around 
     you,'' Judy Beckler, president of the Women and Infant 
     Center, said yesterday, of Mr. Corcoran, 80, who died 
     Wednesday at Massachusetts General Hospital.
       Beckler said she couldn't give a figure for how much money 
     Mr. Corcoran donated to the center. ``It's not something he 
     would approve of,'' she said. ``He hoped, in time, people 
     would understand that his time and commitment were more 
     important than any money he donated.''
       But the total was at least $500,000, according to a story 
     published in the Globe in 1995.
       The center now includes a homeless shelter, has 20 beds for 
     pregnant teenagers and is home to nine nonprofit groups that 
     offer a number of services from child care to computer 
     training.
       ``He wanted us to become a vital institution in 
     Dorchester,'' said Beckler. ``He had a commitment and a 
     vision, and really believed that folks could make a 
     difference in other people's lives.''
       As a member of the center's board of trustees, Mr. Corcoran 
     was always willing to ask the hard questions. ``He once told 
     me, `I learned long ago not to practice trustee etiquette,' 
     '' said Beckler.
       One of eight children of an Irish-immigrant factory worker, 
     Mr. Corcoran sometimes hawked newspapers as a young man to 
     help his family make ends meet. He shoveled coal at St. 
     Margaret's. And he spent a childhood summer with relatives in 
     Ireland.
       He attended Boston English High School. When the United 
     States entered World War II, he answered the call and became 
     a paratrooper.
       In the months before the D-Day invasion of France, his 
     family lost contact with him for three months. Every night, 
     the sound of rosary beads rattled through the two-bedroom 
     apartment in Dorchester as his siblings prayed for his safe 
     return.
       Finally his mother received a letter. ``Mom, I smelled 
     something today that I haven't smelled since I was 7,'' he 
     wrote, ``the sweet smell of turf burning on a fire.''
       To his family's relief, Mr. Corcoran was alive and well and 
     training in Ireland.
       Mr. Corcoran parachuted into France in the early hours of 
     the D-Day invasion.
       ``I once asked him what D-Day was like,'' his brother Joe 
     of Milton said yesterday. ``He said: `It was the most 
     exhilarating and most exciting time of my life; 
     unfortunately, some people got killed, and others got hurt.' 
     ''
       Mr. Corcoran was among the injured. He was awarded a Bronze 
     Star as well as a Purple Heart.
       After the war, Mr. Corcoran attended Boston College. He 
     completed his bachelor's degree in three years, even though 
     he was working 40 hours a week shoveling coal at St. 
     Margaret's.
       He then began John M. Corcoran & Co., a real estate 
     development firm, which he operated with his brothers Leo and 
     Joe, who later left to start his own firm, Corcoran Jennison 
     Companies.
       ``We were a lot more confident than our parents were,'' Mr. 
     Corcoran told The World of Hibernia magazine. ``We knew we 
     were at least as smart as anyone else--if not smarter. And 
     you also knew you were an American, and you had that right.''
       John M. Corcoran & Co. has built or managed more than 
     15,000 apartment units and a million square feet of suburban 
     properties including Quincy Commons and Weymouth Commons 
     apartment complexes.
       Mr. Corcoran contributed to many charities, among them the 
     Christian Jewish Center at Boston College, where he was a 
     trustee.
       He had 50 nieces and nephews, and he loved to ski. Every 
     year, he brought his extended family on a ski trip to New 
     Hampshire. For many years, he rented the entire Bartlett 
     Hotel for his family, and children would be running through 
     its hallways for a week.
       Each year, Mr. Corcoran took a trip to the Alta Ski Area in 
     Utah. ``He was looking forward to going this year,'' said 
     Joe. ``When you reach 80 years old, you get to ski for free. 
     It wasn't the money, but it was a status thing with him.''
       In addition to his brothers, both of whom are Milton 
     residents, he leaves two sons, John and Thomas, also of 
     Milton; five sisters, Mary of Dorchester, Theresa of Quincy, 
     and Claire Carten, Bernadette Richards, and Frances Richer, 
     all of Milton; and five grandchildren.
       A funeral Mass will be said Monday at 10 a.m. in St. 
     Elizabeth's Church in Milton. Burial will be in Milton 
     Cemetery.

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