Patrick J. "Pat" Kearney (1955–2014) was an American reporter, broadcaster, coach, author and historian, noted for his newscasting, sportscasting and books about his hometown of

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

Early life

Kearney was born in Butte on May 24, 1955, the son of Martin and Louetta (Pene) Kearney. He attended Catholic schools in Butte, and graduated from

Butte Central Catholic High School Butte Central Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Butte, Montana. It is one of two high schools in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena, the other being Loyola Sacred Heart in Missoula. Their mascot is the Maroons. ...

in 1973, where he was a runner on two consecutive state cross country championship teams.

College and newscasting

Kearney attended

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

in Bozeman, earning his degree in Film and Television in 1978. After brief stops in

Great Falls Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

(

KFBB-TV KFBB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Great Falls, Montana, United States, affiliated with ABC, Fox and MyNetworkTV. Owned by the Cowles Company, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Old Havre Highway in Black Eagl ...

as a reporter in 1979) and

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

(

KTVQ-TV KTVQ (channel 2) is a television station in Billings, Montana, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network, a statewide network of CBS-affiliated statio ...

as a videographer 1979–1981), he was hired in 1981 as a news reporter at

KXLF-TV KXLF-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Butte, Montana, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network, a statewide network of CBS-affiliated stations. K ...

in Butte, and promoted to news director in 1986. After leaving KXLF in 1988, he became an advertising sales executive for Butte's cable TV companies (the last being

Charter Communications Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. With over 32 million customers in 41 states, it is the second-largest cable operator in the United States by subscribers, ...

) from 1993 until his death. Kearney's departure from KXLF came on December 7, 1988, when he refused to accept a demotion to sports director, and filed a lawsuit against them for wrongful termination in violation of their written personnel policy. After a split decision in state district court mostly favoring KXLF, and a cross appeal by both parties, the case was decided by the

Montana Supreme Court The Montana Supreme Court is the supreme court, highest court of the state court system in the U.S. state of Montana. It is established and its powers defined by Article VII of the 1972 Montana Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court wh ...

in Kearney's favor, but reducing legal fees granted by the district court to Kearney by $87.90.

Sportscasting

Kearney was a long-time radio broadcaster for Butte Central's football and basketball games, and served as sports historian for both Butte Central and the public Butte High School. He was also instrumental in establishing the Butte Sports Hall of Fame in 1987, to which he was enshrined in 2009. He also coached the cross country team at Butte Central.

Author, historian and civic involvement

Kearney wrote occasional news and sports articles for ''

The Montana Standard ''The Montana Standard'' is a Lee Enterprises daily newspaper and website in Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments co ...

'' up until his death, the final one about the 100th football game between Butte High and

Billings Senior High School Billings Senior High School, located in Billings, Montana, and part of the Billings Public Schools District, opened in 1940. Billings Senior High School is a comprehensive public institution. Notable alumni *Stanley Anderson, actor *John Bohlinge ...

in 2014. He was also devoted to recording Butte's history as the

Anaconda Copper The Anaconda Copper Mining Company, known as the Amalgamated Copper Company between 1899 to 1915, was an American mining company headquartered in Butte, Montana. It was one of the largest trusts of the early 20th century and one of the largest min ...

era ended. His 1983 KXLF news story on the closing of Anaconda's last remaining Butte mining operation (Continental Pit) can be seen in the 2008

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

documentary film ''

Butte, America ''Butte, America'' is a 2008 documentary film about Butte, Montana's history as a copper mining town. It was created by Pamela Roberts, narrated by Gabriel Byrne, and includes a mix of first hand accounts and scholarly analysis from John T. Shea, ...

''. He wrote seven books about the city and its history; an eighth book dealt with the long-time football rivalry between Montana State and the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

. He was a primary interviewee for the 1999

Montana PBS Montana PBS is the PBS member public television network for the U.S. state of Montana. It is a joint venture between Montana State University (MSU) and the University of Montana (UM). The network is headquartered in the Visual Communications Bu ...

documentary film ''Remembering the Columbia Gardens'', based partly on his 1994 book ''Butte's Pride – The Columbia Gardens''. He served as division historian and past president of Division 1 of the

Ancient Order of Hibernians The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH; ) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be male, Catholic, and either born in Ireland or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New ...

. In addition to founding the Butte Sports Hall of Fame, he established the annual Blarney Stone Run (since renamed in his honor) in 1983, served as co-chairman of

Evel Knievel Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel (; October 17, 1938 – November 30, 2007) was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Over the course of his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. Knievel was inducted into the Motor ...

Week and the high school Class C All-Star football game, chairman and founder of the Butte Sports Foundation, co-founder and first-year chairman of the Winternational Sports Festival and manager of the Neversweat & Washoe tourist train in 1989. He made an unsuccessful run for chief executive of the Butte/Silver Bow government in 2004.

Death

Kearney died from a coronary blockage in his Butte home on October 12, 2014; his body was found two days later.

Bibliography

All titles published by Skyhigh Communications, Butte. *1989 – ''Butte's Big Game'' *1990 – ''Miracle on the East Ridge'' (about the

Our Lady of the Rockies ''Our Lady of the Rockies'' is a 90-foot (27 m) statue built in the likeness of Mary, the mother of Jesus, that sits atop the Continental Divide overlooking Butte, Montana. It is the fourth-tallest statue in the United States after ''Birth of ...

statue) *1994 – ''Butte's Pride – The Columbia Gardens'' (about the 1899–1973 amusement park, Montana's only major one) *1998 – ''Butte's Voices: Mining, Neighborhoods, People'' *2001 – ''Butte’s Copper League'' *2004 – ''The Divide War: Montana’s Golden Treasure'' (about the MSU-UM football rivalry) *2010 – ''Butte’s Catholic Family'' (about Butte's deep Catholic heritage) *2014 – ''Butte's

Berkeley Pit The Berkeley Pit is a former open pit copper mine in the western United States, located in Butte, Montana. It is long by wide, with an approximate depth of . It is filled to a depth of about with water that is heavily acidic (2.5 pH level), ab ...

References

External links

Obituary from ''The Montana Standard''

Kearney v. KXLF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearney, Pat 1955 births 2014 deaths American broadcasters American historians American male writers American sports coaches American television reporters and correspondents Montana State University alumni People from Butte, Montana