Conlin, Patrick Joseph
4/10/1933 - 7/19/2024
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Patrick Joseph Conlin, 91, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, passed away on Friday, July 19, 2024, of natural causes.
Pat was born to John W. and Catherine M. Conlin, in 1933, in Ann Arbor, where he and his five siblings were raised together. Pat succeeded his father as a judge on the Washtenaw County Circuit Court, after serving as a District Court Judge in Washtenaw County. His tenure as a District Judge was 1969-1972, and he served as a Circuit Court Judge from 1972-1997. Pat is the longest serving in an unbroken relay of Conlin judges in this county starting in 1956 through the present day. He is fondly remembered by many attorneys still practicing in Washtenaw County.
Pat completed both his undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree and his Juris Doctor from law school at the University of Michigan, and before becoming a judge served as a lawyer in Washtenaw County. He also served in the United States Navy from 1952-1956. A lifelong Roman Catholic, Pat attended St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Ann Arbor, then St. Mary in Chelsea, and served on the Board of Directors at Ave Maria Law School.
He met the love of his life, then Anneward Ashley, in 1957, and they married in 1958. Over their 67 years together, they built homes on lakes and on farms, traveled to many distant lands, sometimes in rickshaws, sometimes together in VW buses, and always with a deep love for each other and the world around them.
Known for his charming, warm personality, and his sense of wonder and adventure, Pat would often choose family vacations seemingly from a National Geographic Magazine. We remember the trip to an island off Honduras, where we had to take the mail plane to several remote islands before reaching our destination.
But there were two lands which always held his heart and his home: his native Michigan with its great lakes and rolling farmland, and his ancestral home of Ireland.
Pat knew every nook and cranny on his bucolic farm between Ann Arbor and Chelsea, from the 150 year-old oaks, to the pear tree-lined lanes, to the old barns and gardens. He was known to be VERY enthusiastic about planting his vegetable garden, much to the chagrin of our family, who took up the rear in terms of weeding and picking.
And, there was the time, as a very young man, he saw a tiny ad in the Detroit Free Press about an island in northern Lake Michigan where many Irish natives had come to settle, Beaver Island. He rode by ferry across from the mainland with his father in 1959, and decided to put down what little payment he could afford while still a student in law school on a parcel of land that has become a beloved family retreat.
To his family, after the grandchildren arrived, he was always known as Poppy, and loved nothing more than to take several of his grandchildren out in his small boat on a quiet lake with cane poles aplenty, to look for bluegills. Although he was known to catch spectacular gamefish in oceans, he preferred time with his children and grandchildren, oftentimes spending the whole of a fishing trip putting worms on the hooks of tentative toddlers and fixing many, many line tangles.
Most of all, he loved his family, and he relished his life. He made numerous trips to Ireland with family and friends. Every St. Patrick’s Day, Pat was known to put stacks of LP records on the record player, some with whimsical Irish ballads and some with sad songs of independence. And each year, he and his siblings would raise a toast to Ireland, their ancestral home.
One time, a small grandchild was sitting in Pat’s lap and asked about the veins that criss crossed his cheeks. “What are those, Poppy?” He answered, “Look close. Do you see? It’s a map of Ireland.”
He is preceded in death by his parents, John and Catherine Conlin; his brothers, Jack and Jim Conlin; and his twin brother, Bob.
Pat is survived by his wife of 67 years, Anneward; his children, Kelli and Patrick Jr.; his daughters-in-law, Elaine Economou and Angie Martell; his adoring grandchildren, Patrick III, John, Ciaran, Rory, and Thomas; and his siblings, Richard, Conlin, and Mary Dyer.
A memorial gathering and visitation will take place on Tuesday, August 27, 2024 from 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm with a Rosary held at 7:30 pm, at Nie Family Funeral Home - Liberty Chapel, 3767 W. Liberty Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103.
A funeral mass will be held on Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 10:00 am at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 530 Elizabeth Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.
4/10/1933 - 7/19/2024
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Patrick Joseph Conlin, 91, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, passed away on Friday, July 19, 2024, of natural causes.
Pat was born to John W. and Catherine M. Conlin, in 1933, in Ann Arbor, where he and his five siblings were raised together. Pat succeeded his father as a judge on the Washtenaw County Circuit Court, after serving as a District Court Judge in Washtenaw County. His tenure as a District Judge was 1969-1972, and he served as a Circuit Court Judge from 1972-1997. Pat is the longest serving in an unbroken relay of Conlin judges in this county starting in 1956 through the present day. He is fondly remembered by many attorneys still practicing in Washtenaw County.
Pat completed both his undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree and his Juris Doctor from law school at the University of Michigan, and before becoming a judge served as a lawyer in Washtenaw County. He also served in the United States Navy from 1952-1956. A lifelong Roman Catholic, Pat attended St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Ann Arbor, then St. Mary in Chelsea, and served on the Board of Directors at Ave Maria Law School.
He met the love of his life, then Anneward Ashley, in 1957, and they married in 1958. Over their 67 years together, they built homes on lakes and on farms, traveled to many distant lands, sometimes in rickshaws, sometimes together in VW buses, and always with a deep love for each other and the world around them.
Known for his charming, warm personality, and his sense of wonder and adventure, Pat would often choose family vacations seemingly from a National Geographic Magazine. We remember the trip to an island off Honduras, where we had to take the mail plane to several remote islands before reaching our destination.
But there were two lands which always held his heart and his home: his native Michigan with its great lakes and rolling farmland, and his ancestral home of Ireland.
Pat knew every nook and cranny on his bucolic farm between Ann Arbor and Chelsea, from the 150 year-old oaks, to the pear tree-lined lanes, to the old barns and gardens. He was known to be VERY enthusiastic about planting his vegetable garden, much to the chagrin of our family, who took up the rear in terms of weeding and picking.
And, there was the time, as a very young man, he saw a tiny ad in the Detroit Free Press about an island in northern Lake Michigan where many Irish natives had come to settle, Beaver Island. He rode by ferry across from the mainland with his father in 1959, and decided to put down what little payment he could afford while still a student in law school on a parcel of land that has become a beloved family retreat.
To his family, after the grandchildren arrived, he was always known as Poppy, and loved nothing more than to take several of his grandchildren out in his small boat on a quiet lake with cane poles aplenty, to look for bluegills. Although he was known to catch spectacular gamefish in oceans, he preferred time with his children and grandchildren, oftentimes spending the whole of a fishing trip putting worms on the hooks of tentative toddlers and fixing many, many line tangles.
Most of all, he loved his family, and he relished his life. He made numerous trips to Ireland with family and friends. Every St. Patrick’s Day, Pat was known to put stacks of LP records on the record player, some with whimsical Irish ballads and some with sad songs of independence. And each year, he and his siblings would raise a toast to Ireland, their ancestral home.
One time, a small grandchild was sitting in Pat’s lap and asked about the veins that criss crossed his cheeks. “What are those, Poppy?” He answered, “Look close. Do you see? It’s a map of Ireland.”
He is preceded in death by his parents, John and Catherine Conlin; his brothers, Jack and Jim Conlin; and his twin brother, Bob.
Pat is survived by his wife of 67 years, Anneward; his children, Kelli and Patrick Jr.; his daughters-in-law, Elaine Economou and Angie Martell; his adoring grandchildren, Patrick III, John, Ciaran, Rory, and Thomas; and his siblings, Richard, Conlin, and Mary Dyer.
A memorial gathering and visitation will take place on Tuesday, August 27, 2024 from 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm with a Rosary held at 7:30 pm, at Nie Family Funeral Home - Liberty Chapel, 3767 W. Liberty Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103.
A funeral mass will be held on Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 10:00 am at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 530 Elizabeth Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.
