FRANCIS PATRICK CORCORAN

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PICTURED ABOVE: A younger Francis Patrick Corcoran (left) standing with his brother in law George Kottig II

Francis Patrick Corcoran was my grandfather on my mother's side and actually was the only grandfather I ever knew. He was quite the character and very special to all of us.  

Pat, or Frank as some people called him, was the grandson on an Irish immigrant. As my mother Mary Frances Corcoran said, "Dad was Irish completely and totally," and I can attest to that. 

My grandfather lived through some of the most difficult times in America including two world wars and the great depression. He worked hard all of his life and instilled in us all a strong work ethic. He was also a consummate gardener. I worked with him often in his gardens up on Golden Avenue. They were stunning! I'm certain this is where my love of gardening comes from.

Gramps also enjoyed a cold beer on a warm summer night while listening to a Reds game. To this day, when I'm sitting at home watching a game, I often flash back to Gramps sitting in that folding chair on the front porch of the Golden Avenue house listening on his transistor radio to a WLW broadcast of Waite Hoyt doing the Reds play by play from Crosley Field.

He never met a stranger either. I remember walking with him through Mt. Lookout Square. It seemed like it took an hour to get across the square because everyone that we passed would stop to say hello to him. Francis Patrick Corcoran was known and loved by everyone.

Gramps also had a great sense of humor. He would say things to us like, "Chew your milk, its good for your teeth" or "You know it rains every Good Friday." And if he felt you weren't working hard enough he would say "Come on Stepin' Fetchit, pick up the pace"

In his youth Gramps was a vaudevillian of sorts. He never lost his talent for that. When we were kids he would often break into a little soft shoe for us. We would all get a kick out of that. And when we brought our girlfriends to family events, he would take them by the hand, spin them around and do a little dance with them. They thought he was the greatest...and he was.

Gramps loved to sing too. There was one song in particular that he would often sing to us that started something like this; Goin' down the redbrick, goin' on the run, Goin' down the redbrick to see my hun, Never been married in all my life, Goin' down the redbrick to see my wife...

I remember that day way back in the 1971 when Gramps broke into one of his impromptu performances of this song in the basement of our McLean Drive house. Somehow my brother Rick was able to capture it on our Denon cassette recorder. Amazingly, that cassette tape survived all these years. Unfortunately, most cassette players did not. So KANIS.US had the recording digitized and has posted it for all to hear. 

- John Kanis III

                LINK: Click the red arrow on the audio link below to listen