John Kevin Mahoney passed away on Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at his home in Brookline, MA, surrounded by family after losing his battle with cardiovascular disease. Born November 10, 1934, to John and Marguerite Mahoney in Rochester, New York, Kevin was predeceased by his wife, Rosemary, and is survived by his four children, their spouses and seven grandchildren. Having graduated Aquinas High School at age 16, Kevin went on to graduate from Le Moyne College. Kevin had been drafted while he was in college so he deferred entering the military until after he graduated. Kevin became a Marine and served in the Korean War as a medic on a troop ship. We've all heard stories about the best bunk to get in a tier of five, how good the coffee is on a bracing cold morning, why you shouldn't tick off the medic whose giving you a shot, and how to remove the tattoo of an old girlfriend's name. After Kevin left the military, he held a variety of jobs before moving to Washington, D.C., and Georgetown Law, where he discovered the career perfectly suited for his quiet intellectuality and the love of his life. It was a great time to be in Washington, D.C. It was the Kennedy era. Kevin, a lifelong Democrat, was positive that liberal policy and financial conservatism were the way forward. During law school and while getting his Masters in Taxation, Kevin worked for the IRS. There he learned valuable lessons on how to help his clients negotiate claims with the IRS. It was also in Washington where his best friend set him up on a blind date with a beautiful, funny and charming young woman named Rosemary Weidner. He was quickly smitten and while he didn't have much money (between law school and the IRS government salary, there's wasn't much left over after living expenses), he used humor and charm to convince her a date at the laundromat was perfectly acceptable if there was a bar next door. Between Sunday crossword puzzles, bridge parties, Catholic Club social events, and a number a funny dates Kevin convinced that beautiful girl to marry him. Almost on a whim Kevin applied for a job at a law firm in his home town. When they came back with a great offer it took a little convincing to get Rosemary to buy into moving to a city that promoted itself as having 14 days a year great for outdoor drying. But move they did. Over the course of nearly 40 years, Kevin started his law practice as an associate and rose to the level of senior partner at Harris Beach. His specialty was tax but he frequently worked with pensions, estate planning, patent law, family and business development. He regularly studied the developments of tax regulations and spoke annually as various symposiums to explain them. He appreciated all of his clients and because of that, they appreciated him right back. Do you remember the inventor of the personal helicopter and that Rosemary forbid Kevin from trying it out? How about Kevin's stories of the Silver Floss sauerkraut factory and how sauerkraut is actually made. Or the inventor of the vertical garden. Remember the afternoon we spent at his house on the lake with his lighthouse water buoy? And how can I not mention the Reinemans who gave us a box of Stever's chocolates every year for Thanksgiving. It became such a tradition that Kevin continued to buy that box even after the first generation of Reineman's passed on. As a father, we couldn't have asked for better. His dedication to his clients, including the Saturday mornings and the occasional travel taught us about work ethic but his presence at dinner almost every night, the time he put into teaching us financial planning or the time he spent planning family vacations or gatherings with friends spoke to the importance of family and friends. How many stories did he read to us as kids with all of us piled on his lap? Even the dog wanted in on the action. And did that not lead to the numerous books Dad gave us every year for every occasion? When we were teenagers, it was Dad who got us going in the morning and prepared breakfast. Was it Dad who came up with the announcement that it would be a "Puffed Rice Festival" when the choice of cereals had run low? While Mom helped us with math, Dad helped us with the written word. He was the lawyer, after all. How many school papers and college essays did he read over the years. To this day, I hear his voice whenever I outline a paper. As we grew older, Dad was focused more on our financial planning. He started the Hermes Fund as a family investment group and wrote us monthly newsletters telling us about what had happened in the market and the reasons for his buys and sells. He sent us reports of our individual investments and he always signed his letters "In appreciation." I remember that Fund doing quite well and that one his son's fiancé claimed being engaged to a member of the family was a close enough association to join the Fund. As a grandfather, the grandkids could always count on frequent ice cream cones and cultural opportunities. What museum, zoo, or science center didn't Poppa and Nana have a membership to? You could always count on seeing Poppa and Nana at most every sporting, musical, and dance event. They felt the warmth of Poppa's pride and affection in all of their accomplishments and interests. Kevin was to all who met him a quiet yet well grounded man with a dry sense of humor. He could be quite tactful or quite opinionated, especially when it came to politics or local sports. He was the spiritual backbone of the family. Those of us who know and love Kevin will miss many things about him. Without exception we are all better human beings for having known him. Due to Covid concerns, a private funeral mass is scheduled for 10:00am on Monday, January 18, at St. Mary of the Assumption, Brookline, MA, to be followed by a graveside service at Walnut Hills Cemetery, 96 Grove Street, Brookline. In lieu of flowers, gifts to be made to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in memory of J. Kevin and Rosemary W. Mahoney to support cancer research and patient care at: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284 or via.www.dana-farber.org/gift.