Joe Kernan: Safe at Home

This past weekend, during the festivities surrounding the Blue-Gold Game (Notre Dame’s Spring Football Scrimmage), Joe Kernan was honored by the Notre Dame Monogram Club with its Moose Krause Distinguished Service Award. The award is given to a member (Kernan played catcher for the Irish in the 1960s) who exemplifies the Notre Dame ideals in his or her commitment to youth and community.

It wasn’t the first time Kernan was honored on Blue-Gold weekend. At the 1973 game, 20,000 fans rose to their feet in Notre Dame Stadium to welcome him onto the field. Had he made it to the majors? Was he a newly famous celebrity? No. It was just Joe—happy to be home in the place he loved.

Kernan’s plane had been shot down almost a year before on May 7, 1972 in the Vietnam War, and he had spent 11 months as a prisoner of war at the infamous Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi. The prison was known as a place of torture, interrogation, and filth.  As disturbing as enduring time in a dilapidated cell would be, unaware of when he would be released, Joe never lost what people know him best for—his spirit. Jokingly, immediately upon his return home Joe asked a newspaper reporter “Who won the Super Bowl?”

Joe’s life of service didn’t stop after his military career. After serving in South Bend’s city controller’s office in the early 1980s, Kernan was elected mayor of his beloved city in 1987. He served his city until 1996, when Frank O’Bannon selected Joe to be his running mate in his successful election for Indiana Governor. Although he never had any ambition to pursue his state’s highest position, the tragic passing of Governor O’Bannon led to Kernan’s ascent to the Governor’s office, where he finished the term before returning to his beloved city of South Bend, Indiana.

Kernan’s determined spirit never relented in his career. He brought jobs back to the South Bend economy that had struggled since the 1960s. He strengthened the relationship between the University of Notre Dame and his city that is still bearing fruits today. As he led the state’s department of commerce, thousands of jobs were created in the state. His work in the state capitol engineered the expansion of the Indiana Education system, improving all levels of education: early-education programming up through the state’s college system.

Along with his esteemed political career, Kernan may be remembered most for securing minor league baseball’s future in South Bend. The team was a landmark acquisition for the city in the mid 1980s, but by 2005, there was pressure on the team’s ownership to move the much-loved team. Amidst the turmoil, Kernan spearheaded a group that purchased the team with the firm intent to keep the Silver Hawks in South Bend. Joe kept that pledge until just last year when Kernan’s group sold the team to Andrew Berlin a baseball lover in his own right with ties firmly in the Midwest. Because Mr. Berlin too plans to keep the Silver Hawks local, Joe could pass the organization forward knowing he’d fulfilled his commitment to the team and the city.

So thanks to Joe Kernan’s heart for all things South Bend, and all things baseball, we have the opportunity to enjoy evenings at Coveleski Stadium for years to come. It is a

legacy that epitomizes Kernan’s ethos. If you go to a Silver Hawks game today, you’ll continue to be struck by the beauty of the facilities at the Cove, humbled by hospitality of the staff, impressed by the level of play and warmed by the community the team inspires.

Among all the splendor you will see, one thing you might not notice at a Silver Hawks game is the same thing that gets overlooked at a lot of baseball games—the catcher. Even though he’s involved in every play, he rarely gets recognized. He stays at the plate, guides the squad, and protects the team’s assets. And that’s Joe: happy to be at Home Base.