Joe Feeney, Lawrence Welk tenor, 76

[La N]

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-04-22-feeney_N.htm

Lawrence Welk tenor Joe Feeney dies at 76

By Robert Jablon, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Joe Feeney, a Nebraska-born tenor who crooned Danny Boy and
other standards for 25 years on The Lawrence Welk Show, has died. He was 76.
Feeney died of emphysema on April 16 at a hospice in Carlsbad, Calif., son
Tim Feeney said. The elder Feeney lived in San Marcos in San Diego County,

"He never smoked a day in his life" and the family believes he may have
contracted the illness from decades of performing in smoky casinos and
nightclubs, his son said.

From 1957 to 1982, Feeney was the featured tenor on the Welk show, which
offered easy-listening "champagne music" and clean-cut, family oriented
songs. The shows are still broadcast on public television stations.

Feeney also had a rich career away from the show. He sang for five
presidents at the White House and for Pope John Paul VI in 1975 at the
Vatican, according to his website.

Feeney, however, was modest.

"We knew him as dad," Tim Feeney said in a telephone interview Tuesday from
his home in San Diego. "He came home and never told us he sang for the
president."

He performed at venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to Disneyland, in part to
support a big family.

"When you have 10 kids, even in those days, things were expensive," said
another son, Sean Feeney of La Costa.

His last performance was in Syracuse, N.Y., in December.

"He loved it," Tim Feeney said of the singing. "It was his life. And that's
what led most of the family to sing and perform throughout the years."

Feeney was born to an Irish-American family in Grand Island, Neb., and as a
child sang in the church choir. He continued singing through school. He
entered and won several singing contests at the University of Nebraska,
where he was starting quarterback.

A tape of his singing was sent to Welk in 1956, resulting in a guest spot on
the Los Angeles-based show.

"From then on, he became a regular," Sean Feeney said.

When he wasn't singing, Feeney loved to fish and golf. He also kept a garden
and at one time raised horses on a ranch in Simi Valley, Tim Feeney said.

In addition to his two sons, Feeney is survived by sons Joe Jr., of
Escondido; George Patrick, of Las Vegas; Chris, of Los Angeles, and Matt, of
San Diego; daughters Kathy Feeney of Glendale, Ariz. and Georgia Feeney of
San Marcos, and nine grandchildren. Two other children died.

[AndrewJ]

Post by La N
His last performance was in Syracuse, N.Y., in December.

Hmm... Robert Goulet's last performance was in Syracuse last fall.

Is it something about the PCPs in Onondaga Lake? Relative proximity to
Jim Boeheim?

[A]

x-no-archive: yes

Post by AndrewJ

Post by La N
His last performance was in Syracuse, N.Y., in December.

Hmm... Robert Goulet's last performance was in Syracuse last fall.
Is it something about the PCPs in Onondaga Lake? Relative proximity to
Jim Boeheim?

The Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown?
<g>

[MLW]

Post by AndrewJ

Post by La N
His last performance was in Syracuse, N.Y., in December.

Hmm... Robert Goulet's last performance was in Syracuse last fall.
Is it something about the PCPs in Onondaga Lake? Relative proximity to
Jim Boeheim?

LOL! More like the proximity to the current SU football team!

MLW (trying to think of who we can get to perform here to make it a
triad)

[MLW]

Post by La N
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-04-22-feeney_N.htm
      Lawrence Welk tenor Joe Feeney dies at 76
Feeney also had a rich career away from the show. He sang for five
presidents at the White House and for Pope John Paul VI in 1975 at the
Vatican, according to his website.

Uhhhh......how about Pope Paul Vl?

MLW

[Brad Ferguson]

In article

Post by MLW

Post by La N
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-04-22-feeney_N.htm
      Lawrence Welk tenor Joe Feeney dies at 76
Feeney also had a rich career away from the show. He sang for five
presidents at the White House and for Pope John Paul VI in 1975 at the
Vatican, according to his website.

Uhhhh......how about Pope Paul Vl?

The bio at the website he shares with his son Chris at

<http://home.earthlink.net/~bestenor/>

says merely Pope John Paul. However, elsewhere there's a reference to
Joe's having sung at the Vatican on the occasion of the canonization of
Elizabeth Ann Seton, which was in 1976. That was during Paul VI's
administration, if "administration" is the word I want.

The son's bio mentions that he'll be appearing at future engagements
such as the New Year's Gala '98-'99. They could use an update over
there.

[t***@iwvisp.com]

Post by La N
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-04-22-feeney_N.htm
      Lawrence Welk tenor Joe Feeney dies at 76
By Robert Jablon, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Joe Feeney, a Nebraska-born tenor who crooned Danny Boy and
other standards for 25 years on The Lawrence Welk Show, has died. He was 76.
Feeney died of emphysema on April 16 at a hospice in Carlsbad, Calif., son
Tim Feeney said. The elder Feeney lived in San Marcos in San Diego County,

My Dad was a big L W Show fan when I was a kid so we watched every
week. I liked Cathy Crosby's Dad who sang baritone..."Dodge had a
good time too!

For some reason my father hated Joe Feeney and I never got around to
asking why.

Ray Arthur

[ZapRat]

Post by t***@iwvisp.com

Post by La N
      Lawrence Welk tenor Joe Feeney dies at 76

For some reason my father hated Joe Feeney and I never got around to
asking why.

There are many folks who have reason to hate Joe Feeney's brother for
the reasons cited below.

Back when I was much younger and attended Catholic mass as part of my
upbringing, I attended several masses which were officiated by Father
Feeney. My mother and other folks often praised the singing voice of
Father Feeney. I didn't pay much attention during the masses and have
no recollection of his singing voice or any other aspect of his
presence.

It seems more than a bit ironic to me that Joe Feeney is heralded with
having sung for a Pope while his brother is one of the priests being a
scourge of the Catholic religion due to sexual abuse, and especially,
pedophilia.


--------------------------

Green Bay Catholic Diocese, Ex-priest Named in New Lawsuit

Jan 16, 2008 06:46 PM
By Emily Matesic
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=7627049

An alleged sexual assault victim in Nevada filed a lawsuit against
former priest John Patrick Feeney, the Green Bay Catholic Diocese, and
the diocese of Reno-Las Vegas.

SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, announced the
filing of the lawsuit Tuesday afternoon.

The victim, identified only as John Doe 119, says Father Feeney
sexually assaulted him in 1984 when he was 13 years old.

The court document accuses the Green Bay diocese of transferring a
known child sex offender to Las Vegas.

Soon after Feeney arrived at the Las Vegas church, the suit alleges,
the abuse took place, and several more claims of in appropriate sexual
behavior were brought against Feeney.

In 1987 he was sent for an evaluation at a treatment center. The
conclusion of that evaluation, "It is our view that Father Feeney,
despite having a diagnosable sexual disorder, is untreatable."

Two years later, according to the lawsuit, Feeney sought treatment
again. This time it was recommended "Father Feeney move on... and that
he be considered for a return to ministry."

However, in that same letter to Green Bay Bishop Adam Maida, he was
told, "When you have read the enclosed reports, please destroy them or
return them to use and we will see to their disposal."

SNAP says that's an example of the diocese covering up Feeney's
crimes.

"Destroy records, destroy evidence of criminal behavior by one of your
priests against children in Wisconsin, in Nevada, and now in
California in order to protect him and us," Peter Isely, SNAP's
Midwest director, said.

The diocese issued a response late Tuesday afternoon after it reviewed
a copy of the complaint:

At this time we do not know if the complaint was filed in Clark
County, Nevada, and no complaint has been served on the Diocese. If we
are served with a complaint, we will continue in our practice of
cooperating with civil authorities. And, as always, we will continue
to listen to victims and train our staff and volunteers on how to
create and maintain safe environments.

---------------------------

Article below from -
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2008/01_02/2008_02_04_Schneider_DidJustice.htm
Any original material on these pages is copyright
©BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.



Did Justice Prosser Shrug off Accused Priest?

By Pat Schneider
Capital Times
February 4, 2008
http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories/270864

Did Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser decline to prosecute
a priest accused of molesting two brothers in the 1970s when he was
district attorney of Outagamie County?

Prosser isn't talking, saying through a spokesman that he will not
comment on the case of defrocked priest John Patrick Feeney -- who was
tried and convicted nearly three decades later -- because of possible
cases that could come before the high court.

One former state Supreme Court justice says that Prosser is right to
keep quiet and that only he can decide whether past involvement with a
priest abuse case would prejudice him, but one of the victims says he
should comment, and the state head of an advocacy group for priest
abuse victims says the revelations are troubling.

Prosser, appointed to the Supreme Court by former Gov. Tommy Thompson
in 1998 and elected to a 10-year term in 2001, joined the court after
a series of landmark decisions that erected a barrier to lawsuits
against the Catholic Church by adult victims of childhood sexual
assault by clergy. He has sometimes sided with decisions that have
limited the ability of plaintiffs to sue the church and sometimes
sided with positions that have made more lawsuits possible.

In 2005, as the priest abuse scandal rocked the nation and the church
in other states paid out million-dollar settlements, Prosser wrote a
majority decision that barred a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of
Milwaukee because the statute of limitations had expired. In that
case, Justice Ann Walsh Bradley admonished the majority for not taking
up the larger issue of whether the First Amendment bars lawsuits
against the church. But Prosser joined with the majority last year in
a case that opened the door to lawsuits against churches with sexually
abusive clergy by means of allegations of fraud.

The court has agreed to hear two cases this year involving how the
statute of limitations should be applied to priests accused of
molesting children many years ago.

Feeney case

Evidence about Prosser's connection to the Feeney case came to light
in recent weeks through the work of the advocacy group Survivors
Network of Those Abused by Priests.

Brothers Todd and Troy Merryfield, and their mother, Sharon
Merryfield, said in separate recent interviews with The Capital Times
that Prosser shrugged off a formal complaint against Feeney in 1978.

All three recall Prosser sitting in the living room of the family's
Freedom home (between Appleton and Green Bay) and telling them that he
was not willing to prosecute the case.

"He said he didn't want to put a couple of kids on the stand, and
asked who would believe a couple of kids over a Catholic priest," said
Todd Merryfield, now 43, of Cedarburg.

Given that Feeney's brother, Joe Feeney, was a well-known tenor
featured on the Lawrence Welk show, Prosser said, a prosecution would
attract a lot of media attention. "He said it would be very
embarrassing," said Troy Merryfield, now 42, of Virginia.

Sharon Merryfield, who was acquainted with Prosser from their school
days, recalled that "we were pretty upset."

It wasn't just the Catholic Church that would not act against
pedophile priests, it was law enforcement too, said Sharon Merryfield,
who now lives in Texas. "Who else could we turn to? What else could we
do? Nobody was on our side."

The Merryfield brothers took the witness stand in 2004 to help convict
Feeney, after Vincent Biskupic, then district attorney of Outagamie
County, brought charges. Feeney was convicted by a jury of three
counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child and one count of
second-degree sexual assault of a child, and sentenced to 15 years in
prison. The case is on appeal.

Sharon Merryfield recalled that when she complained to church
officials that Feeney had molested her sons at the family home, they
promised he would be removed from ministry where he had access to
children.

But the Merryfield brothers filed a lawsuit early this year, charging
that the Diocese of Green Bay knew before they were molested that
Feeney was abusing children, and shuffled him from assignment to
assignment to keep his propensities secret, putting them and other
eventual victims at risk.

Among evidence produced by the Merryfields are a 1973 letter to Feeney
from Bishop Aloysius Wycislo ordering Feeney to leave an assignment in
De Pere within three months for unspecified reasons, and a 1983 letter
in which Wycislo offers Feeney the option of getting treatment or
finding an out-of-state bishop who will take him on to work in his
diocese. In the 1983 letter, Wycislo remarks: "Time and time again I
have been advised by civil servants, specifically the attorney
general, that unless the diocese promised to provide treatment for
you, you would be prosecuted."

Bronson La Follette, who was state attorney general in 1983, said in a
recent interview that he recalls no such discussions with church
officials.

Feeney moved to Las Vegas and worked in at least one church there. An
alleged victim in Nevada has filed a lawsuit charging childhood abuse
by Feeney.

'I'd shut my mouth'

Troy Merryfield thinks that Prosser should disqualify himself from any
clergy sex-abuse cases that come before the court. "If I were him, I'd
shut my mouth and recuse myself," Merryfield said.

Former state Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske agrees Prosser is wise
not to comment on the case. She says whether he should recuse himself
on any case before the court is a decision only Prosser can make.

Assuming he did decline to prosecute Feeney, "it's his personal call
on whether he can be fair and impartial," Geske said. Any assumptions
about his opinions drawn from a decision not to prosecute a priest are
irrelevant, she added.

Geske offered the analogy of a justice who is against the death
penalty (which Wisconsin has not had for more than a century) being
called to sit on a death penalty case.

"If they personally felt they could not sit fairly on the case, then
they should recuse themselves. "That's a personal call on where they
stand on the issue."

Peter Isely, Midwest coordinator for Survivors Network of Those Abused
by Priests, said he isn't sure if he would like to see Prosser recuse
himself from the clergy sex abuse cases.

"We've never been in this situation before," he said, but added that
he is troubled by the revelation regarding Prosser on the heels of
reports by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel last week that former
Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann was approached by
the Milwaukee Archdiocese in 1983 about what to do about an unnamed
priest's record of sex abuse.

Documents released in connection with another lawsuit indicated that
McCann advised church officials to take the priest out of the ministry
for about five years, and if there were no further complaints, to
perhaps give him another chance. McCann said he was not told of any
criminal activity at the time.

"As a victim, it's very distressing that victims who did come forward
literally did not have a prayer when it came to justice," Isely said
of the evidence of law enforcement officials not pressing charges on
evidence of priest sexual abuse.

As for Prosser, Isely said he wonders what conversations he had with
church officials, and if he knew how Feeney went on to abuse after he
declined to prosecute him. "He's got to be just devastated to learn
about this," Isely said.



Loading Image...
Did Justice Prosser shrug off accused priest?
Did Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser decline to prosecute
a priest accused of molesting two brothers in the 1970s when he was
district attorney of Outagamie County? Prosser isn't talking, saying
through a spokesman that he will not comment on the case of defrocked
priest John Patrick Feeney -- who was tried and convicted nearly three
decades later -- because of possible cases that could come before the
high court.

-------------------------------------

Related content:

1/15/2008
Photo of Fr. John Patrick Feeney
Loading Image...


Justice Prosser's link to priest case assailed
As DA in '79, he decided not to prosecute, records indicate
By MARIE ROHDE
Posted: Feb. 4, 2008
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=714473


Brothers Molested By Priest File Fraud Lawsuit
http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/12982352.html


SNAP Releases Letter from Bishop to Abusive Priest
http://www.newnation.org/Archives/index-080112.html
An organization for victims of sexual abuse by clergy is releasing
documents to the public which it says prove the Catholic Diocese of
Green Bay covered up the repeated sexual abuse by Father John Patrick
Feeney.


Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Records: Prosser declined to prosecute priest in 1979
By The Associated Press
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2008/02/05/newsupdate/09prosser.txt


Database of Publicly Accused Priests in the United States
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/priestdb/PriestDBbylastName-F.html
--
http://www.extirpirate.com/ is an archive of the Internet abuse and
harassment transmitted via scores of troll-variant and forged
identities by John Wesley Gilmer III, aka, "PirateJohn" or
"PyrateJohn". Much of it having been transmitted while in the employ
of Moffitt Corporation, 1351 13th Avenue South, Suite 130,
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250 http://www.moffitthvac.com

"Pyrate/Pirate"John Wesley Gilmer III resides in an old bus - license
plate number *C26 2RR* registered in Duval County, Florida - which he
parks on rented commercial driveway space somewhere in the Jacksonville,
Florida area. He has no known permanent residence. He must be in dire
need of payout from the good-as-gold lawsuit he initiated.

[Brad Ferguson]

In article

Post by t***@iwvisp.com

Post by La N
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-04-22-feeney_N.htm
      Lawrence Welk tenor Joe Feeney dies at 76
By Robert Jablon, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Joe Feeney, a Nebraska-born tenor who crooned Danny Boy and
other standards for 25 years on The Lawrence Welk Show, has died. He was 76.
Feeney died of emphysema on April 16 at a hospice in Carlsbad, Calif., son
Tim Feeney said. The elder Feeney lived in San Marcos in San Diego County,

My Dad was a big L W Show fan when I was a kid so we watched every
week. I liked Cathy Crosby's Dad who sang baritone..."Dodge had a
good time too!
For some reason my father hated Joe Feeney and I never got around to
asking why.

Mine didn't care for him, either. Odd.

Lawrence Welk seems not to have cared much for Feeney's talent. Welk
said once that there were much better singers out there, but he kept
Feeney on the payroll because he had all those kids.

[Nell]

Post by Brad Ferguson
In article

Post by t***@iwvisp.com

Post by La N
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-04-22-feeney_N.htm
Lawrence Welk tenor Joe Feeney dies at 76
By Robert Jablon, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Joe Feeney, a Nebraska-born tenor who crooned Danny Boy and
other standards for 25 years on The Lawrence Welk Show, has died. He was 76.
Feeney died of emphysema on April 16 at a hospice in Carlsbad, Calif., son
Tim Feeney said. The elder Feeney lived in San Marcos in San Diego County,

My Dad was a big L W Show fan when I was a kid so we watched every
week. I liked Cathy Crosby's Dad who sang baritone..."Dodge had a
good time too!
For some reason my father hated Joe Feeney and I never got around to
asking why.

Mine didn't care for him, either. Odd.
Lawrence Welk seems not to have cared much for Feeney's talent. Welk
said once that there were much better singers out there, but he kept
Feeney on the payroll because he had all those kids.

I liked Feeney a lot. There's another Irish singer I like a lot that he
sounded just like who had a recording career from 1903 to 1944--Billy Murray
(1877-1954).

Nell

[R H Draney]

Post by Nell
I liked Feeney a lot. There's another Irish singer I like a lot that he
sounded just like who had a recording career from 1903 to 1944--Billy Murray
(1877-1954).

Check out a podcast from www.dawnofsound.com last year:

http://www.archive.org/download/Dawnofsound_Episode01/Episode1.mp3

There's a recording near the end of the show by "Ada Jones & Male Quartette"
with a *very* familiar-sounding voice....r

[Nell]

Post by R H Draney

Post by Nell
I liked Feeney a lot. There's another Irish singer I like a lot that he
sounded just like who had a recording career from 1903 to 1944--Billy Murray
(1877-1954).

http://www.archive.org/download/Dawnofsound_Episode01/Episode1.mp3
There's a recording near the end of the show by "Ada Jones & Male Quartette"
with a *very* familiar-sounding voice....r
--
What good is being an executive if you never get to execute anyone?

Yup, very familiar. ;)

I have a lot of CDs of his recordings.

Thanks for the links. :)

Nell

[f***@gmail.com]

your father was a good man

[DGH]

-

Correction:

LOS ANGELES [California] -- In obituaries on April 22 and April 23 for
singer Joe Feeney of "The Lawrence Welk Show," The Associated Press,
relying on information from his son, erroneously reported that Feeney
was a starting quarterback for the University of Nebraska football
team. The university says Feeney attended the school in the early
1950s, but never played football for the team.

[DGH]

-

Correction:

LOS ANGELES [California] -- In obituaries on April 22 and April 23 for
singer Joe Feeney of "The Lawrence Welk Show," The Associated Press,
relying on information from his son, erroneously reported that Feeney
was a starting quarterback for the University of Nebraska football
team. The university says Feeney attended the school in the early
1950s, but never played football for the team.

[f***@gmail.com]

I don't know how to start. I am not college educated to communicate in the Lawyer terms. Im so done with all of this. I was broughtup a catholic, went to mas, our uncle Fr John, would come over with his friend Jake. When we lived in simi Valley.my mother would say,, before he arrived, oh btw the way the bug wind is coming into Town. We all just laughed. Never thought anything about it. Well to move on,, because i get so distraught, hurt, upset, agry, that I have not said anything. Do to being a catholic and taught to forgive. Our family has buried my sister Mary Elizabeth Feeney. They say because she was crazy. NOT. Because of Fr John. I received a text message from a guy looking for my brother George Patrick Feeney. Then receice a phone call from the same man, saying he had shot and killed himself. I remember it all. Why is he still alive back east. I want to look him in the eye and say, WHY? Did you do this. You are so educated, what happened. Look what you have done. Look at me, you have molelested me. Why should I not shoot you here. WHY FR. JOHN WHY? You should not be alive, yet there has to be a way to find out why he f***k up the remaining family. ZI want to know how to see him and ask him. I have the right font i? IM SO SORRY. I HAVE TALKED TO MYSELF OVER AND OVER AND IT JUST DONT SERM TO HELP YOU PIECE OF SHIT! FR JOHN YOU ALWAYS HAD MASS IN OUR LIVING ROOM. WHST WERE YOU ACTUALLY THINKING. DID ANY OF US EV R R RECEIVE THE BLESSING YOU GAVE TO US?

[t***@gmail.com]

Post by La N
Lawrence Welk tenor Joe Feeney dies at 76

Some of Welk's employees found him a challenge to work for. They had a joke they told behind Welk's back:

Q: What's the difference between Lawrence Welk and a Moose?

A: On a moose the horns are on the front and the anus is in the back.

Sometimes when I channel surf I'll see Welk's show on PBS and I can't help but think all of those grey haired dancers are now in boxes or urns.