John Patrick McVeigh

John Patrick McVeigh of Portland Maine was born in New York City on a hot day July 31st, 1947 and died this October 8 at the age of 78 after nearly a two year battle with pancreatic cancer. He lived and died a true warrior. We are all stunned with the great loss of this wonderful Irish Renaissance man.

His early years were in the Greenwich Village and Yorkville sections of Manhattan. His early sense of adventure began in the Washington Square Park neighborhood where men played chess and cards on tables. He learned to play penny ante poker in the back room of the local newspaper store and darts at the local pubs. In high school he took on football, judo and taekwondo earning black belts in both. During summers he learned the woods at Adirondack Camp on Lake George, NY. He attended Collegiate School in New York City and then the University of Virginia in Charlottesville for his Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and later his Law degree.

John was an English professor at UVA before moving on to a career in law at the Portland-based firm of Preti Flaherty for over 30 years. John had many noteworthy courtroom victories including a multimillion-dollar verdict for four college students wrongfully evicted from their apartment in Portland. Colleagues at Preti Flaherty who had the privilege of working with John were always impressed with his legal acumen and manner—strategically broad-minded, tactically sound, tireless, a no-nonsense negotiator and always courteous to foes and judges. His Gotham background no doubt graced him with a level-headedness and street smarts that went along with his superior intellect. John was particularly helpful to younger associates at the firm quick to provide his insights on both simple and complex litigation and corporate law matters.

John was also a poet and short story writer. John’s poetry is both eloquent and egalitarian, somber, funny, caustic and spiritual, full of bravado and humility. Any reader would want to be his friend. He is a writer who can help if you are searching for The Way. John was the pro bono attorney for Port Veritas, a Portland poetry group which held readings at the North Star Cafe, Blue and Bull Feeney’s. John’s advocacy helped aspiring poets to have venues where they could try out their voices. He gave readings in Westbrook, Portland, Hallowell and Portsmouth, NH. His published book of poetry is available still from Moon Pie Press in Westbrook.

John lived a good life. He created it with gusto and joy with his wife, Kris. There were adventures into the North Woods, to the top of Saddleback, into the Tobeatic Wilderness in Nova Scotia and out into the Atlantic in kayaks. They traveled and camped across the country and traveled to Labrador, Newfoundland, Norway and Italy and summered in Nova Scotia restoring an old farmhouse of his childhood roots. They rebuilt a beautiful home in the footprint of their Portland home after it was reduced by fire and they gardened, danced and cooked elaborate recipes from the New York Times. In quiet times he wrote poetry and short stories, read extensively, worked crosswords and played cribbage with friends. John had four moose hunts, three with success. Together John and Kris seasonally went fly fishing, grouse and deer hunting, winter camping and telemark skiing from their cabin in Dallas Hill Plantation, Maine.

John was a man careful of his words and quick to laughter and was a determined driver of doing the right thing and in the right way. He always had two back-up plans or equipment for any emergency. As a result he taught all of us close to him so many survival skills and gave us confidence to be in the wild and how to tackle life’s challenges. He knew he could do anything he put his mind to and did. He will be sorely missed. He leaves behind his wife, Kris Horton, children Evan, Leah, James, Abraham (spouse, Jo), Kyle (partner, Sierra) and Jessica, grandchildren Wilder, Mack and Lyra, sisters Maggie and Ann, and a niece and nephews all with children of their own and many close friends. He had a wide circle of people who loved, respected and cherished him and for whom the world will be a less interesting place.

The family is deeply grateful to the Maine Medical Cancer Team for all their time and effort to extend John’s life, grateful to the Dempsey Center for their caring support and to the Gosnell House for giving John peace in the last days of his life. John will be buried with a private service in Evergreen Cemetery in Portland.

Friends and family are invited to a Celebration of his life Sunday, October 26th from 1:00-3:00 at the Jones, Rich and Barnes Funeral Home, 199 Woodford St. Portland.

In lieu of flowers, John would prefer you donate to the Salvation Army.

Please visit www.jonesrichandbarnes.com to view John’s tribute page and to sign his online guestbook.