Joe Kernan (1946-2020)

Joe Kernan
Photo: United States Naval Academy

There will never be another Joe Kernan.

Never. 

Indiana's 48th Governor, Kernan passed away today at the age of 74 after a battle with Alzheimer's Disease. The Indy Star's Justin L. Mack reports that there will be no public services due to COVID-19.

Born in Chicago on April 8, 1946, Kernan's father, Joseph E. Kernan, Jr. was a veteran of World War II and worked in government roles and so did Kernan's mother, Marian. The Kernan Family moved to South Bend when Joe was 10. He graduated from St. Joseph's High School in 1964. From there, he matriculated to Notre Dame and graduated four years later with a degree in government.

In 1969, Joe Kernan answered his country's call in Vietnam and joined the Navy. Shot down over North Vietnam in 1972, Lieutenant Kernan became a prisoner of war in Hanoi. For nearly a year, he was imprisoned there. The Indy Star's Jason Kelly wrote this touching piece about Kernan and detailed some of his time as a POW. For his service, Kernan was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Purple Hearts and the Navy Commendation Metal.

Kernan got married to his wife, Maggie, and returned to private life after the military in 1974. In 1980, the became South Bend city controller. He was elected Mayor of South Bend in 1987. Kernan served two terms as the Mayor of South Bend. He was in his third term when asked in 1996 to be Frank O'Bannon's running mate. The O'Bannon/Kernan ticket defeated Stephen Goldsmith and George Witwer in a tight race. He and O'Bannon enjoyed a productive four years in office, and they were reelectd in a landslide in 2000. The great economic conditions from their first term began to slow, and so did the Indiana economy. The state began to struggle. Tragedy then struck.

O'Bannon attended a trade conference in September 2003 in Chicago. On September 8, O'Bannon suffered a massive stroke in Chicago and died five days later. Kernan moved from Lieutenant Governor to Governor and comforted a grieving state through the loss of its popular leader. One of Kernan's first decisions as Governor was to name Kathy Davis as his Lieutenant Governor. Davis became the first woman to serve in that post.

In his short time on the job as Governor, Kernan did his best to help the Indiana economy, and things were beginning to turn around. In his only legislative session with the Indiana General Assembly, he championed educational reforms such as all-day kindergarten that ultimately did not pass.

Initially, Kernan decided not to pursue a term of his own as Indiana's Chief Executive, but he changed his mind and ran into the buzzsaw that was the 2004 election in Indiana. Led by George W. Bush at the top of the ticket, Mitch Daniels was elected Indiana Governor, and Kernan returned to South Bend.

In retirement, he became one of the owners of South Bend's minor league baseball team, and he served with Chief Justice Randall Shepard in authoring the Kernan-Shepard report on how to streamline and reform government in Indiana.

I met Kernan for the first time in 2004. I attended a fundraiser for the Governor's campaign that was geared toward young people. After he arrived, I watched as the Governor worked the room. I lost track of him because I was in conversation with other people at my table.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and it was the Governor.

"Hi, I'm Joe," he said.

"Of course you are!" I thought.

Joe Kernan embodied humility. He never became filled with the ego and self-importance to which some politicians at his level often fall victim. I talked with him a few more times over the years, and I always found him engaging and giving of his time.

Governor Kernan is survived by Maggie, and his siblings.

According to the Indianapolis Star, you can make memorial contributions to the Veterans Fund at the University of Notre Dame, Kernan's beloved alma mater.

This may be the understatement of the decade, but Indiana will miss Joe Kernan.