Joseph M. Fallon
Mar. 2, 1929 – Dec. 18, 2020 Joe Fallon loved God, family, Notre Dame, and golf. The order of those things sometimes changed depending on the season. This year, based on their football record, Notre Dame moved up a notch. Luckily, Joe passed before the Irish’s big loss to Clemson. There is some poetic justice in the fact that Joe’s last season watching ND football was an undefeated season - just like the four undefeated seasons he experienced when he was a member of the Notre Dame football team in the late 1940’s.
Joseph Michael Patrick John Fallon was born March 2, 1929 to John C. and Catherine A. Fallon in Alton, IL. Because he was baptized on St Patrick’s Day, the priest insisted on adding Patrick to his baptized name. Joe was a devout Catholic who went to mass as often as he could, went to confession regularly (and urged his children to do so on many occasions) and was a Eucharistic minister.
Joe grew up in Alton with his brother, Jack, where he excelled in academics and sports at Marquette Catholic High School, earning himself a football scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. He was proud to be on the “hamburger squad” at Notre Dame and even more proud to be one of “Leahy’s Lads,” the nickname given to those students who played for coaching great, Frank Leahy. Joe cherished his time at the university where he learned life lessons and made lifelong friends. He has rooted for the Irish (sometimes angrily) for the past 70 years.
Joe earned a BS degree from the University of Notre Dame in Civil Engineering. He also held a BA in Accountancy from Morris Harvey College and an MBA from West Virginia University. He began his career at Union Carbide in Charleston, WV as an engineer and quickly rose through the ranks, moving to New Orleans, LA; Victoria, TX; and finally, to the corporate offices in New York and Connecticut where he was Vice President of the Chemicals and Plastics Division. He took early retirement from Carbide in 1985 but got restless and soon took an executive position at Crompton and Knowles where he retired again in 1995.
Joe met the love of his life, Isabel Moran, who was also from Alton, while they were in college. They dated for several years and wed in 1954 when Joe returned from the service, where he was a Private First Class in the Army. They were married for 50 years and lived in Stamford, CT from 1975 until Isabel’s death in 2004. They also had a home in Hobe Sound, FL where Joe lived for the past 15 years. Together they had seven children in ten years. Ann (Jack) Hart of Franklin, MA; Joseph, Jr. of Stratford, CT; Kevin (Nancy) of Copley, OH; Joan (Thomas) Callahan of Gilford, NH; Thomas (Jeanne) of Glenview, IL; Patty (James) Hennessey of Fairfield, CT; and John (Barbara) of Fairfield, CT. In all, he is survived by seven children, 16 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by a second wife, Margaret of Hobe Sound, FL.
In addition to rooting for the Irish, Joe enjoyed watching the Yankees, playing golf, swimming, walking, and taking naps. At any minute of any day, chances were good that Joe was doing one of these favorite activities and could often be found multi-tasking by napping through an inning or two of a Yankees game.
Joseph M. Fallon died peacefully December 18, 2020 at the age of 91. All of his seven children met at his bedside to say goodbye. Though he lived a long and successful life by any measure, it was still not long enough. He will be forever missed by his family. Say “hi” to Mom for us… we love you.
Catholic services and burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to a local charity or business that is in need this holiday season.