Former Indiana first lady Maggie Kernan rests her hand on a bust of her late husband, former Gov. Joe Kernan, as she speaks with Gov. Eric Holcomb after an unveiling ceremony Friday at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. The ceremony marked a public memorial for Kernan, who died in August 2020.
Maggie Kernan looks at the bust of her late husband, former Gov. Joe Kernan, alongside several of his siblings as it is unveiled Friday at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis.
Maggie Kernan stands next to a bust of her late husband, former Gov. Joe Kernan, as she speaks with relatives and friends after an unveiling ceremony Friday at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis.
INDIANAPOLIS — Former Gov. Joe Kernan was honored as a patriot and leader during a Statehouse ceremony Friday unveiling a memorial bust of him more than two years after his death.
More than 200 family members and friends joined in the celebration that opened with bagpipe music on St. Patrick’s Day, noting Kernan’s Irish heritage in what marked a public memorial for him: No such services were allowed because of COVID-19 restrictions.
The Democrat won three elections as South Bend’s mayor, then was elected lieutenant governor with Gov. Frank O’Bannon in 1996 and 2000. Kernan became governor in September 2003 after O’Bannon suffered a deadly stroke and served for 16 months, losing the 2004 election to Republican Mitch Daniels.
Kernan died in August 2020 at age 74 after several years of declining health because of Alzheimer’s disease.
Friday’s ceremony highlighted Kernan’s gregarious personality, humor and dedication to public service punctuated by the 11 months he spent as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war after his reconnaissance plane was shot down in 1972.
Before the bronze bust was unveiled, Terry Kernan teased Indianapolis sculptor Ryan Feeney that his mostly bald older brother might not be pleased: “If Joe had anything to do with it, he’d want more hair. Just to let you know. Hopefully it can be added later.”
Kernan grew up in South Bend as the oldest of nine siblings — most of them attended the ceremony — and enlisted in the Navy after his 1968 graduation and time on the baseball team at the University of Notre Dame. After his return from Vietnam, he married Maggie McCullough and worked for local businesses before entering politics.
After leaving the governor’s office, Kernan returned to South Bend and was involved in numerous civic activities, including leading a group of investors that owned the city’s minor league baseball team for about five years. They sold it in 2011.
Kathy Davis, whom Kernan appointed as Indiana’s first female lieutenant governor, said Kernan had many longtime friends in his “ball clubs” spanning from his childhood at Holy Cross grade school in South Bend to his time as governor.
The bronze bust, paid for by donations raised by the Indianapolis Athletic Club Foundation, will be a permanent reminder in the Statehouse of Kernan’s influence, Davis said.
“From now on, we’re going to be able to visit Joe Kernan’s invincible spirit and introduce it to others,” Davis said.
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb has Kernan’s official portrait displayed in his personal office, along with that of Gov. Edgar Whitcomb, who escaped from a Japanese prisoner camp by swimming overnight during World War II and died in 2016. Portraits of all other recent governors are hanging in the office lobby.
Holcomb said Kernan never made mention of noticing his portrait’s placement while visiting the office and insisted on being called Joe. Kernan “could connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime.”
“You could drop him into any audience and he will do this, he’d find it. He had this uncommon, optimistic ability to connect people and experiences, stories.”
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