[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 64 (Friday, April 20, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E812-E813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE MEMORY OF JOSEPH KEANE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BRIAN HIGGINS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 20, 2007

  Mr. HIGGINS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of a 
dear friend Joseph ``Joey'' Keane, a man who inspired countless people 
in my hometown of South Buffalo through his example, strength of 
character, and spirit.
  Joey Keanes life was filled with many blessings. He was blessed with 
an extraordinary family; his parents Richard and Catherine Keane 
embraced him with love and care as they did all of their children, his 
15 siblings, 7 sisters and 8 brothers, enriched his life with love, 
laughter, and respect, and the Seneca Street neighborhood that was his 
home and the place where he was beloved by neighbors, family friends, 
and business owners alike.
  The Keanes are a politically prominent family in Buffalo, NY. Joey's 
brothers Dick & Jim were elected to public office, his brother Neil 
served as Fire Commissioner but many would argue that Joey was the best 
politician of them all.
  His brother Jim explained Joey and the impact he has had on others 
best when he said, ``Joey's taught us a lot of lessons, and he's taught 
us the lighter side of life. I think Joey has made it easier for all of 
us to laugh at ourselves. That's part of the Joey Keane mystique. You 
learn humility and how to laugh at yourself from the Joey Keanes of the 
world.''
  Madam Speaker, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the 
entire Keane

[[Page E813]]

Family for the loss of their dear brother and with the House's consent, 
I would like to end my remarks with a recent article that was printed 
in The Buffalo News which commemorates the life of Joey Keane.

Mayor of Seneca Street Dies at 60--Joey Keane Was `True Politician' of 
                                the Clan

                            (By Gene Warner)

       Six years ago, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bishop Henry 
     J. Mansell attended a Labor Day Mass in South Buffalo, where 
     Clinton seemed to be grabbing the most attention.
       Joey Keane--of the prominent South Buffalo Keane clan--
     spotted Mansell, who was standing alone, drinking a cup of 
     coffee and perhaps feeling a little ignored by the Clinton 
     spotlight.
       ``Hello, Bishop, I'm Joey Keane,'' he said. ``If you put 
     that cup of coffee down, I'll take my picture with you.''
       That was Joey Keane, one of the best known of the famous 
     Keanes, a man intimidated by no one, a South Buffalo man who 
     always had a hug or a quip for everyone--whether it was the 
     governor, the bishop or just a man or woman on the street.
       Dubbed the ``mayor of Seneca Street,'' Keane died Friday in 
     the Mercy Hospital Skilled Nursing Facility, following an 
     almost two-year battle with Alzheimer's and its 
     complications. He was 60.
       When he was born, in February 1947, family members were 
     told that infants with Down syndrome had a life expectancy of 
     about 21 years. Usually, they were taken to an institution 
     for the rest of their lives.
       His mother, Catherine, would hear none of that. So he spent 
     the first 30 years of his life with his parents, Richard and 
     Catherine, the next 30 rotating among about a dozen siblings 
     and nieces, each for about 3 months at a time.
       Among his 14 surviving siblings are a former Buffalo fire 
     commissioner, a former assemblyman and a former deputy county 
     executive. But everyone acknowledged who the true politician 
     was in the family: Joseph Jeremiah Keane.
       ``He worked a crowd better than any of his politician 
     brothers,'' said niece Kate Carr, one of 183 nieces, nephews 
     and their children who called him ``Uncle Joey.''
       ``His whole life, he was a cause celebre along Seneca 
     Street,'' said brother James P. Keane, the former Common 
     Council member and deputy county executive. ``People just 
     took to him.''
       Here's a testament to his popularity in South Buffalo. Ten 
     years ago, following a newspaper story about his gala 50th 
     birthday party, a childhood friend living in Australia sent 
     him a letter addressed to ``Joseph Keane, Somewhere in South 
     Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y.'' The letter reached him.
       Within his family, Joey Keane was the peacemaker of the 16 
     siblings. When they fought as kids, there was Joey in the 
     middle of things, settling everybody down and leaving the 
     participants to walk away with hugs and handshakes.
       ``He was kind of the glue that kept us together,'' said 
     brother Cornelius J. ``Neil'' Keane, the former fire 
     commissioner.
       Since his death, South Buffalo has been filled with dozens 
     of Joey Keane stories. Here are a few of them:
       Years ago, Joey Keane had just moved from the roomy Orchard 
     Park home of a niece, Pat Allman, to the more modest South 
     Buffalo home of his sister Maureen Sullivan.
       ``Cup of coffee, Joe?'' his sister asked him the first 
     morning.
       ``What, no cappuccino?'' Joey replied.
       ``You're back in South Buffalo, buddy,'' his sister 
     answered.
       Following The Buffalo News story 10 years ago, then-Mayor 
     Anthony M. Masiello bought Joey Keane a cappuccino maker for 
     his 50th birthday.
       Sometime after his father's death, one sibling kidded that 
     their mother could marry widowed Gov. Hugh L. Carey, who had 
     14 children. Together, they'd have more than two dozen.
       Joey Keane apparently remembered that comment when he saw 
     Carey at some South Buffalo function.
       ``Stay away from my mother,'' he told Carey, according to 
     another brother, former Assemblyman Richard J. Keane.
       Among other things, Joey Keane loved watching soap operas; 
     impersonating everyone from John Wayne to Tom Jones; dressing 
     up in Sabres, Bills or Bisons garb, while watching or 
     listening to their games; dancing at weddings, often trying 
     to snag the first dance with the new bride; needling his 
     ``big shot'' brothers; watching the old Lawrence Welk TV 
     show; and catching the garter belt at any wedding.
       Surviving are seven sisters, Nancy Lafferty, Mary Alice 
     O'Neil, Sally Trevean, Catherine Keane, Connie Smith, 
     Margaret Ray and Maureen Sullivan; seven brothers, Richard 
     J., Thomas J., Michael A., Cornelius J., Daniel J., James P. 
     and Peter C. Another brother, Firefighter William T. Keane, 
     was killed in 1978 while responding to a false alarm.
       A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 9:30 a.m. 
     Wednesday in St. Teresa Catholic Church, 1974 Seneca St., 
     after prayers at 9 in Thomas H. McCarthy Funeral Home, 1975 
     Seneca St.

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