Tonight I did an on-line search and discovered a lot I didn’t know about John’s aunt and uncle (his mother’s sister), Robert and Jennie Mahoney. This year this remarkable couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

Robert was the first blind man ever elected to the Michigan House of Representatives. Robert Mahoney stayed in the Michigan Legislature for eighteen years and is best known for introducing the bill that requires hunter safety classes for young people. To prove that anyone could buy a hunting license, the blind legislator went out and bought one himself. The bill passed the following year.

Together they raised 10 children, yet they are both totally blind.

In 1956 the Mahoneys established a mail-order business, Michigan Notary Service, which sold seals, bonds, rubber stamps, and other notary needs. Jennie Mahoney took care of the business, basically run out of the couple’s bathroom, while her husband served in Lansing. This very successful business is still on-going and is currently owned and run by one of their daughters.

In 2006, Jeannie wrote: “We have twenty-four grandchildren and three have earned their Ph.Ds and two have their Master’s Degrees. The rest are still pretty young, so we will have to wait to see what they will produce.”

What an inspirational couple!