A Memorial Mass was celebrated for Patrick Jeremiah “Jerry” Hannan, who as a youngster was immortalized in the mural of Catholic saints and religious figures of the Americas that rests high above the main interior doors of the Cathedral of St. Matthew, Washington, D.C. Hannan died on Oct. 26 at the age of 98.
“Thirty one years ago as a newly ordained priest, Jerry was one of the first people to greet me,” said Msgr. James Watkins, pastor of St. Ann Parish, Washington, D.C., during the homily of Hannan’s Nov. 9 Memorial Mass at St. Ann’s. “He was always kind. He was always complimentary. He was always faithful.”
Throughout his priesthood in his various parish assignments, Msgr. Watkins recalled that Hannan, whom he said reminded him of a Guardian Angel, always stayed in touch via a note or a phone call over the years. “He was always the first person to call and offer congratulations,” said Msgr. Watkins. The priest said Hannan “had an infectious, Irish smile, (and was) a joyful man” whose life was grounded in the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love.
Born on March 17, 1922, Hannan was the youngest child of the late Patrick “Frank” Hannan and Lilian Keefe Hannan. A third-generation Washingtonian, Hannan was the last survivor of his seven siblings, including the late Archbishop Philip Hannan, who was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 1939, and later served as a Washington auxiliary bishop until his 1965 appointment as archbishop of New Orleans, where he served until his retirement in 1988. The archbishop died in 2011.
Hannan attended Immaculate Conception School and St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C. He received both his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in organic chemistry from The Catholic University of America.
Throughout the 1920s and the early 1930s, Msgr. Edward Buckey, the then-pastor of St. Matthew’s Cathedral, was overseeing the completion of the cathedral’s interior. Hannan’s father, Frank, whom the family referred to as, “The Boss,” was a master plumber and worked hard to help install the cathedral’s stunning marble panels, artwork, mosaics and murals. As a way of showing his gratitude for Hannan’s labors, Msgr. Buckey asked him to choose one of his sons whose image would be painted by famed artist Edwin Blashfield and appear in the grand mural over the cathedral’s front entrance, depicting saints and holy persons who contributed to the flourishing of the Catholic faith in the Americas, as well as notable Catholics from the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area.
To avoid favoritism among the sons, Hannan’s mother lined up her seven boys, upended a kitchen broom, plucked out seven straws, and had each boy pick one. Jerry Hannan, about 9 years old at the time, drew the shortest straw, which usually means being unluckily chosen for a task. But not this time, and the youngest Hannan became the little altar boy pictured to the right of Cardinal James Gibbons holding his scarlet cape. In a 1999 Catholic Standard story on the mural, Hannan humbly and simply chalked up being chosen to appear in the historical artwork as the “Luck of the Irish,” since he was born on St. Patrick’s Day.
A 1999 Catholic Standard article told the story of how Jerry Hannan became the model for one of the altar boys pictured in the St. Matthew's mural. Below is a detail of the mural, showing the altar server modeled after Hannan at right. At center is Cardinal James Gibbons, the noted churchman who served as the archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 until his death in 1921. When the mural was painted, Washington was part of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. (CS photo below by Michael Hoyt)
During World War II, Hannan worked for the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution. He went on to conduct research at the USDA Laboratories in Beltsville, and at the Engineering Research and Development Laboratories at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In 1956, he joined the Naval Research Laboratory and worked there until his retirement in 1987. To continue sharing his expertise with younger scientists, he worked part-time at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency until 2006. He was also a member of the Thomas Edison Toastmasters during his 31 years at the Naval Research Lab. In 2006, he published a book, Serendipity, Luck and Wisdom in Research, a topic which interested him throughout his professional career.
A passionate baseball fan, Hannan grew up going to Griffith Stadium to watch the Washington Senators. He was thrilled when baseball returned to Washington, D.C. in 2005 and a lifelong dream was fulfilled when the Washington Nationals won the World Series in 2019.
A more than six-decades-long parishioner of St. Ann’s Parish, Hannan was a daily communicant there. He also served at the altar of daily Mass, as well as assisted at or attended the funeral Masses of his fellow parishioners. He also helped with the counting of the parish Sunday collection every Monday morning. For the past six years, he lived at the Goodwin House in Alexandria, Virginia.
“St. Ann’s was (Jerry’s) home. How appropriate that we send him home from St. Ann’s. We rejoice for the life of Patrick Jeremiah Hannan,” said Msgr. Watkins.
At the conclusion of the Mass, Tom Hannan, shared reflections on and memories of his late father. He said his dad was an accomplished scientist and an author, but most of all, he said his dad loved his Catholic faith, his family and baseball. He noted with delight that since Jerry Hannan died on Oct. 26, the Washington Nationals at the time were still the reigning World Champions, and added his dad so admired the game of baseball’s intricacies, such as the “sublime beauty of a perfectly executed bunt.”
Hannan’s well-known letters to family and friends, said his son, were often short reflections, “full of love, warmth, (on) his faith in God, (and) finding joy in the small things,” Tom Hannan said.
Growing up and serving as an altar boy in the Cathedral of St. Matthew Parish, Jerry Hannan fell in love with religious music, and selected the music for the celebration of his life many years ago. For the recessional, organ strains filled St. Ann’s Church with Charles-Marie Widor’s magnificent hymn, “Toccata,” which Tom Hannan said he imagined to be comparable to a “baseball player’s home plate walk-up song,” as his father approached the pearly gates of Heaven.
Jerry Hannan is survived by his wife, Margaret T. “Peggy” Hannan; his four children, Cathy, Peg, Marilyn and Tom; and two grandchildren, Katie and John.
Jerry Hannan (Photo courtesy of DeVol Funeral Home)
