[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 9, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2844-S2845]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REMEMBERING JOHN C. ``SKEFF'' SHEEHY
Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, today I wish to honor Justice John
C. Sheehy, whose life was a Montana story, eulogized with these words
from his family
The material follows:
John C. ``Skeff'' Sheehy, 99, lawyer, jurist, and family
patriarch, died Friday, April 7, 2017, at his home in Helena.
Skeff was born Jan. 27, 1918, to Cornelius and Anna Sheehy
in Butte, the first of seven children. Although he lived in
other Montana towns for 80 years of his life, he believed,
along with his brother Joe, that ``if you're not in Butte,
you're camping out.'' He was educated at Catholic schools in
Butte, attended the Montana School of Mines (now Montana
Tech) and then the University of Montana School of Law. He
obtained his law degree in 1943 and went to work in Helena
for insurance commissioner J.D. Holmes.
Skeff married Rita Ann Schiltz in 1945, and only death
would part them. In 1947, they moved to Billings, Rita's
hometown. Skeff began a 30-year law practice with his
brother-in-law and great friend, Jack Schiltz. They tried all
manner of cases and represented all sorts of clients. They
also had a lot of fun. Schiltz and Sheehy were responsible
for most of the skits, songs and frivolity at the Billings
Bar meetings for decades. Over time, Schiltz and Sheehy
joined others in the practice, including George Hutton, R.G.
Wiggenhorn, and Brent Cromley. Skeff's professional
accomplishments were recognized by the State Bar of Montana
in 2005 with the Jameson Award and by the Montana Trial
Lawyers Association in 2016 with its first lifetime
achievement award.
Between 1959 and 1970, Skeff served in both houses of the
state legislature. He was the first Democrat to break the
``straight eight'' Republican legislative block in
Yellowstone County during those decades of county-wide
ballots. In 1978, Gov. Tom Judge appointed Sheehy to the
Montana Supreme Court. He was elected to his seat twice
before retiring in 1991. Justice Sheehy was the author of the
decision rejecting the challenge to Montana's coal severance
tax. The United States Supreme Court upheld his decision.
Throughout his tenure on the court, Sheehy was known as a
champion of the powerless who recognized the role the
constitutions of his state and nation played in ensuring that
the least among us was accorded the same rights and
privileges as those more fortunate.
After his death, clients he represented and lawyers he
influenced made sure his family knew about his quiet
influence. The child of one client, whom he represented
without compensation, told the family how much it meant to
their family just to have a man like Sheehy at their side in
a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service. ``It wasn't a
fairy tale ending,'' she noted. ``We still had to pay
something. But we had our dignity back. And from that time
forward, your father's name was spoken in our house with a
reverence otherwise reserved for God.''
The family also heard from judges and lawyers throughout
the state, echoing common themes:
``Your dad was the number one hero and inspiration in the
law to me.''
``Your dad set the standard for what a supreme court
justice should be. He cared about people, he cared about
fundamental rights, and he was a master of the language.''
``Your dad was a great mentor. He had a way of teaching
without preaching. And he made the work fun. He always
lightened the occasion with a song or a poem. We all loved
him so.'' A devoted Catholic, Sheehy attended Mass every
morning and said the rosary every night. His faith guided him
through the Great Depression, a near-fatal car wreck in 1936,
Montana politics in the 60s and 70s, an armed assailant in
his Supreme Court office in 1984, the death of his beloved
Rita in 2012, and everything in between.
Skeff and Rita raised eleven children long before
``parent'' was a verb. In those days without cell phones and
texts, Dad communicated with full voice, songs, prayer,
jokes, and sometimes long silences. He imparted much wisdom,
ranging from ``Trust everyone, but cut the cards,'' to
``you'd starve to death with a ham on your back.'' He rarely
[[Page S2845]]
said good-bye, preferring ``tap 'er light'' or ``don't go
with the old feeling.''
Engagement was Skeff's distinguishing characteristic. His
children's greatest fan, he drove all over Montana to their
events. Though he liked to quote J.D. Holmes that ``Human
beings are a lousy arrangement,'' he loved human
arrangements: parades, games, weddings, and funerals. In the
last years of his life, he and Rita and assorted family and
friends ate dinner at the Motherlode every Tuesday, and
Friday noons were reserved for lunch at Benny's Bistro. He
liked the bustle of people. At home, he read and watched the
news every day and night; he did the crossword and sudoku;
and he didn't often miss Jeopardy. He was engaged in the
world to his last day on earth.
Sheehy was preceded in death by his wife Rita; brothers
Tom, Edmund, Joseph, and Jim Sheehy; by his sister Margaret,
known as Sister Serena Sheehy, SLC; and by his granddaughter
Rita Mary. He is survived by his 11 children, Anne (Peter)
Yegen of Park City, Tom Sheehy of Helena; Mary (Duane) Moe of
Great Falls, Patrick (Debbie) Sheehy of Billings, Kate (Dirk)
Whitney of Helena, Eileen Sheehy (Bob Maxson) of Billings,
Rosalie (David) Cates of Missoula, Margaret Sheehy (Ralph
Johnson) of Albany, NY, Jenifer Sheehy of Billings, Martha
Sheehy (Sid Thomas) of Billings and John Sheehy (Jill Golden)
of Marlboro, VT. His lone surviving sibling, Sister Eileen
Sheehy, SLC, lives in Grand Junction, CO. He is also survived
by 19 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and many
treasured nieces and nephews, their spouses and their
children.
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