A Newtown Granddad Becomes ‘Father Of The Year’

By Tanjua Damon

Richard Mulligan is a modest man, but his humor, kind heart, and love for his family are something worth noting. And now that has happened. The Danbury Jaycees recently named him Father of the Year.

Mr Mulligan’s third child, Oona, wrote a letter to the Jaycees after learning that the organization was soliciting nominations for the Father of the Year award. She felt compelled to write because of her own childhood and the surrogate father role Mr Mulligan has played for her two children, Brandon and Keenan, for the last seven years.

“Richard Mulligan should be chosen as Father of the Year by your organization. For the past seven years he has been a great ‘dad’ to my own two sons,” Ms Mulligan wrote. “He is an all-around great dad to me and my siblings. Richard Mulligan is a silly and fun guy. He is a wonderful role model for all his children as well as his grandchildren.”

Ms Mulligan reflected on the times when she was a child and her father would set up lights in the trees for night skating. Or when they would go skiing and he would take her up the rope tow with her holding onto his legs. He does similar things for his grandchildren today.

“Everyday my dad is there for us. Every morning he has the kids fed and on the bus. He grocery shops and cooks dinner. The kids think his cooking ‘rules!’” Ms Mulligan wrote. “While I’m at night classes at Western Connecticut State University, which he pays for, he plays with the boys, helps them with their homework, and has dinner with them.”

Of course Mr Mulligan does not necessarily see what he does as special, but that is where his modesty comes in.

“I could be Grandfather of the Year easier than Father of the Year. I was shocked,” he said. “But in retrospect, what the Jaycees are doing in starting this kind of thing, I think, is to give people a chance to stop and think. We take people for granted. It’s a marvelous thing.”

Mr Mulligan, a retired advertising executive, has been married to his wife, Dorothy, for 48 years. He is the father of four children, Kevin, Timothy (who died eight years ago), Oona, and Megan. He is grandfather to five: Shelia and Sean Mulligan, Brandon and Keenan Bennett, and Ailish Husband. Mr and Mrs Mulligan have lived in Newtown for 30 years on Main Street.

“I think I probably enjoy being a surrogate father for the two kids more than I did with my own kids, because I had a career. They keep me young at heart. I enjoy that,” Mr Mulligan said. “I think I’m just myself. I don’t work at it. I take the path of least resistance.”

Brandon and Keenan think their grandfather, or “Popcorn” as they have named him, is pretty nice and fun to be around.

“He’s nice,” Keenan said. “He fixes the toys.”

“He’s not very funny,” Brandon added sarcastically.

But the Danbury Jaycees selected a great Father of the Year this year, even if Mr Mulligan thinks he is just doing what he does best – having fun!