Number of Participants: 22
Hours Donated: 1
Value of Time Served: $186
Event Type: Civic & Community
Sport: Football
Date: March 24, 2021
Location:
Malden Catholic High School
Crystal Street, Malden
MA
About:
We lost Malden Catholic Alum, Honorable Gerard Doherty, this past summer at the age of 92,He was a graduate of Malden Catholic High School, Harvard University, and Wayne State University, where he obtained a Master’s degree in public health administration and then to Suffolk University Law School. He was known for his many professional accomplishments as a lawyer, real estate developer, Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Chairman of the Democratic Party and as political campaign manager extraordinaire. Gerard’s law practice spanned more than 50 years, specializing in real estate law. He was involved in the development of many real estate projects throughout New England, the most notable of which were Admiral’s Hill in Chelsea, MA and the conversion into affordable housing of the State Prison in Windsor, VT. Gerard’s political career started with his election as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He continued in politics as an intimate of the three Kennedy brothers: Jack, Bob, and Ted. He first met President Kennedy in front of his home on Washington Street in Charlestown in 1947, during the Bunker Hill Day Parade. Ted Kennedy’s successful first campaign for the United States Senate was managed by Gerard. He also managed Robert Kennedy’s successful presidential campaign in Indiana. Gerard also managed Lyndon Johnson’s presidential campaign in Massachusetts and Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign in New York. The New York Times referred to “Gerry” as a “campaign impresario.” President Carter designated Gerard as a United States Delegate to the funeral of Pope John Paul I and as a delegate to the American Russian Housing Committee. For more than 25 years, Gerard was actively involved in the Kennedy Library, serving as a Trustee and a co-chair of the Annual Profile in Courage Award Dinner. He was a staunch supporter of the EMK Institute. He recorded his political adventures in a memoir, They Were My Friends – Jack, Bob and Ted, My Life In and Out of Politics. To those who knew him best, he will be remembered for his many unpublicized acts of kindness and generosity to friends and strangers, both financial and non-financial. Gerard was always noted for his intense loyalty and generosity to family, friends, schools.
That is who Gerard was, but in a nutshell he was a strong supporter of education and never forgot all that Malden Catholic did for him and was present at games and events, loved by all. Our gym is named after him and just a great example we want our students to emulate as a person who lived by servant leadership.
This season football honors the memory of a dear friend of MC & Lancers Football, Gerard Doherty ’46. Much of MC exists as it does today because of visionary & dedicated alumni leaders like Mr. Doherty, who for many decades never forgot his own roots. #LancerPride