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John Vincent "Jack" Geraghty, Jr. (born February 23, 1934) is an Irish American civic politician,

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journalist, and public relations consultant from Spokane, Washington. In 1964, he was elected to

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the Spokane County Board of Commissioners, while simultaneously serving in the Air National Guard

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and working as a staff journalist with the Spokane Daily Chronicle. He resigned as County

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Commissioner in 1971, when the City of Spokane began preparing to host the 1974 World's Fair. While

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he was initially named as the Director of Public Relations, he was later appointed to serve as the

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Vice President of Exhibitor and Guest Relations. At that time, he established the public relations

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consulting firm of Jack Geraghty and Associates. In 1975, he founded the short-lived weekly

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newspaper, known as The Falls. In 1992, he was elected as the 39th mayor of the city, serving from

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1993 to 1998. In 2011, he was honored as a member of the University of Washington Department of

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Communication's Alumni Hall of Fame.

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Personal background

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Early life and family

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John "Jack" Vincent Geraghty, Jr. was born on February 23, 1934, in Seattle, Washington and raised

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in Spokane. He is the son of John Vincent and Gladys Ida (née Johnson) Geraghty, Sr. His father

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worked in advertising as art director and account executive on staff with Spokane-area agencies for

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over 45 years. He was also a commercial water color artist and a member of the Spokane Water Color

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Society. Geraghty's siblings include brothers Michael and Thomas, and sisters Kathleen Whitbeck and

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Mary Sturm.

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Geraghty is a third-generation Irish American. His great grandparents immigrated to the US from

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County Mayo, Ireland in 1880, when his grandfather, James M. Geraghty, was ten years old. His

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grandfather served as Spokane's City Attorney and member of the Washington State House of

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Representatives from the 3rd legislative district. Ironically, while Geraghty's grandfather served

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as Spokane's City Attorney during the first decade of the 20th century, Geraghty served as the

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mayor of the city during the last decade. In 1933, his grandfather was appointed to the Washington

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State Supreme Court, by Governor Clarence D. Martin.

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Education

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Geraghty attended North Central High School, graduating in 1952. His extracurricular activities

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included participating in writing, editing, and producing the North Central News student newspaper.

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In 1997, he was honored as an inaugural recipient of the North Central High School Distinguished

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Alumnus Award. Fellow recipients included former member of the National Transportation Safety Board

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and NASA's Safety Advisory Group for Space Flight, Vernon L. Grose; US Congressman, George

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Nethercutt; Jerry Sage, WWII prisoner of war portrayed by Steve McQueen in the movie, The Great

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Escape; and musician Don Eagle, who toured with the USO during WWII and appeared in A Connecticut

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Yankee in King Arthur's Court (with fellow-Spokanite Bing Crosby), Night Has a Thousand Eyes (with

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Edward G. Robinson), and The Strip (with Mickey Rooney).

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After high school, Geraghty enrolled at the University of Washington, where he was a member of the

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Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He graduated in 1956 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. While

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attending the University of Washington, he served as president of the school's student body and

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worked on the staff of The Daily of the University of Washington student newspaper. He is a

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lifetime member of the University of Washington's Alumni Association. In 2011, the Department of

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Communication honored him with a membership to the Alumni Hall of Fame.

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Military

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Immediately following his graduation from college, Geraghty was drafted into the US Army and sent

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to boot camp at Fort Ord in California. He was then sent to Washington D.C., where he utilized his

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journalism degree by editing the Service Stripe military newspaper at Walter Reed Army Medical

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Center. After two years in the Army, Geraghty returned to Spokane, serving another two years in the

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Air Force Reserves. He was a Lieutenant, assigned to a post as the Public Information Officer in

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the Air National Guard.

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Marriage

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On April 19, 1958, Geraghty married Marlene Curtis at St Paschal's Catholic Church in Spokane.

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Together, they had four daughters, Marcella Maile, Sheila Geraghty, Brigid Krause, and Nora Boyle;

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and seven grandchildren. Two of his grandsons are graduates of the University of Washington, while

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another graduated from the Air Force Academy. While daughter Sheila is the business administrator

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for the Salvation Army in Spokane, Brigid serves as the volunteer services manager for Catholic

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Charities. Geraghty and his wife were separated in 1994 and divorced in 1997.

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In 2001, Geraghty and Kerry Lynch were married by Father Gerard O'Leary at St Joseph's Church,

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located in the countryside outside Limerick, Ireland. Geraghty and his wife share a common Irish

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heritage. They have visited Ireland more than a dozen times and Limerick city every two years. They

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have worked together in establishing and strengthening Spokane's Sister City relationship with

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Limerick. They co-founded the Spokane Limerick Sister City Society and established the Friendly

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Sons of St Patrick together. , Lynch continues to serve as the President of the Spokane-Limerick

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Sister City Society. She is also the founder and president of the public relations consulting firm

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of Alliance Pacific, Inc. and former communications director for Spokane Public Schools. He is the

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stepfather of her daughters, Kaitlin Larson (BA: Gonzaga University, Masters of Communications and

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Organizational Leadership: Gonzaga University) and Meghan Johnson (BA: Oregon State University,

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MBA: Gonzaga University). He has three grandchildren through Kaitlin and her husband, Wes Larson.

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Geraghty and his wife , they reside in southwest Spokane.

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Professional background

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Journalism

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Following completion of his service with the Air National Guard, Geraghty was hired as a reporter

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for the Spokane Daily Chronicle newspaper, which later merged with The Spokesman-Review. During his

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work on staff at the Chronicle, he reported on news, events, activities, and the judicial process

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at the Spokane County Courthouse. In 1975, following the success of Expo '74, Geraghty established

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and began publishing a weekly newspaper known as The Falls, referring to the Spokane River, which

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prominently passes through Riverfront Park and the central business district, flowing over the

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Spokane Falls, just under the Monroe Street Bridge. After two years, the newspaper shut down, when

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it was proven to be unsuccessful. Geraghty said of the venture, "That was really a tough go because

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we were fighting the [daily newspaper in Spokane]. We were trying to emulate David Brewster and the

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Seattle weekly he had. We didn't really have the base population to make it work. That's probably

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one of my biggest disappointments."

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County politics

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In 1964, Geraghty was elected to the Spokane County Board of Commissioners. Just 29 years old, he

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was the youngest county commissioner ever elected. During his time in office, he focused on

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restructuring county departments. Following the 1953 demolition of the Public Health Building,

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which was adjacent to the Spokane County Courthouse, the County built a modernized four-story annex

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to house various departments. During this time, Geraghty successfully championed the consolidation

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of the County Sheriff's department with the city's police and corrections functions in the new

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Public Health Building.

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Public relations

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In 1971, Geraghty resigned his membership on the Spokane County Board of Commissioners, when he

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established the corporate firm of Jack Geraghty and Associates, which provides consulting services

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focusing on public relations, community studies, and public affairs. In preparation for Spokane's

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hosting of the 1974 World's Fair, Geraghty was named as the Director of Public Relations of the

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organizing committee. He was later appointed to serve as the Vice President of Exhibitor and Guest

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Relations. In preparation for the fair, the local government demolished the downtown business

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district, which was previously dominated by the Great Northern Railroad Depot. In addition to

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serving as the founder of Jack Geraghty and Associates, Geraghty has served as Vice President and

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senior advisor of Alliance Pacific, Inc., which was founded by his wife, Kerry Lynch. In his role

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with both firms, he spearheaded several bond issues, which have resulted in the development of