Fahy Family Blog: 2009

Since we will be going to our 50th reunions in New Haven, we were both asked to write essays for our reunion books. I didn't write one originally, but after receiving the massive 300 page reunion book from Yale, we were given the chance to write for a supplement.

My essay was as follows:

Class of 1959 Essay

Richard J. Fahy

I had originally decided not to respond to the request for an essay because I have never done anything unique or outstanding enough to justify writing about myself in the essay book. However, having read some of the essays in the wonderful book created by Sandy Wiener, and given a second chance, I did think of one relatively unusual characteristic that might justify an essay -- I've moved a lot.

This may seem normal to many people, but for lawyers of our generation, it was most unusual. Most lawyers graduated from law school and returned to their hometowns, where they developed their legal practices among people they had known their whole life. Graduates of major law schools often went to large law firms in big cities, and stayed there the rest of their careers. I, on the other hand, worked for three major companies, practiced as a solo for 15 years, and lived in four different cities.

My life has been fairly conventional -- married my college sweetheart 48 years ago, and still married; raised three children, none of whom created problems such as drugs or alcoholism, and each of whom is happily married and producing grandchildren (we now have a total of eight); and enjoyed a career of 40 years in the airline business and related industries. By the time I was 35, we were happily ensconced in a beautiful brick colonial in Pelham Manor, with a short commute to my job in Manhattan. However, in 1978, the Chairman of American Airlines, where I worked in the Legal Department, decreed that the headquarters was moving from New York City to Texas -- specifically, to a location halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth.

This was devastating to me for two reasons. First, somebody else had made a major life decision for me, over which I had no control. This had never happened before and was a very unpleasant experience. Secondly, I was being told to move to the equivalent of a foreign country. In the view of a parochial New Englander (I had never been west of the Hudson until I was 21), Texas was the strange land where JFK was assassinated, people wore cowboy boots, and there were no trees.

I tried desperately to avoid the move, searching for a job in New York, but unable to find one in the short time frame before we either had to commit to Texas or take our severance pay. Since, with three children, I could not afford the risk of unemployment, it was off to Texas. I sulked for six months, while my wife did yeoman work organizing the move, consoling the children, and collecting information on communities where we might live. The only contribution I made was to call the Yale Admissions Office and talk to the recruiter for North Texas about which schools they regarded highly. His particular endorsement of a private school in Fort Worth tilted the balance, and we were one of the few people in management to move to Fort Worth, rather than Dallas. (For those who don't know Texas geography, Fort Worth is not a suburb of Dallas. It is a separate city 35 miles west of Dallas -- about the same as the distance between Washington and Baltimore.) In July, 1979, we moved into a large white colonial with a swimming pool in a heavily-treed neighborhood.

My family loved Fort Worth. My kids enjoyed the private school and loved having their friends over to our swimming pool. My wife became a docent at two of Fort Worth's three world-class museums. We discovered that Fort Worth was in some respects like a renaissance city in which a benevolent aristocracy (primarily the Bass family) supported major institutions and built concert halls and museums. However, it took me a long time to adjust. Since my office was out in the boondocks near the airport, it was difficult to get involved in local activities. It was not until the late 80s, when I join the Opera board and a country club, that I felt more a part of the community. By then, I was also living in Los Angeles.

In 1985, I was given responsibility for a massive antitrust case in which the rest of the industry sued us for over $4 billion because of the alleged monopoly of our computerized reservation system, Sabre. I spent almost the entire next four years in Los Angeles, commuting home to Fort Worth weekends. I loved Los Angeles. The weather was great, the work was exciting, and I was on an expense account for four years. We worked hard all day and then explored the many fine restaurants in the evening. In late 1989, we won a jury verdict after a three-month trial.

When I returned to headquarters, it was like the return of Rip van Winkle. The Legal Department had restructured and I had a new boss, 10 years younger than me, who didn't know quite where I would fit in. I decided it was time to take early retirement and start my own legal practice. Since I was so specialized in airline economic matters, the only feasible place to do this was in Washington, DC.

In 1991, we moved to Alexandria, Virginia. My wife was again a yeoman in this move, particularly because she was not nearly as pleased to be leaving Fort Worth as I was. Washington was okay. Mary Ellen became a docent at the National Gallery of Art, but it was far more bureaucratic than the museum life she had enjoyed in Fort Worth. My legal practice did well, and we joined a country club, where I played a lot of golf. However, we were not entirely satisfied in Washington. Costs were high, traffic was terrible, and several friends that we had made during our early years in Washington had already moved away. When my legal practice wound down a few years ago, we decided after considerable discussion that it made sense, for both economic and family reasons, to return to Fort Worth. Most of our children and grandchildren are in Texas, and we still had some friends here from our previous existence in Fort Worth.

In 2007, we moved back to Fort Worth, moving into a different tree-lined neighborhood, 10 minutes from downtown. Now that we are here of our own volition, I am truly enjoying Fort Worth. We attend the Fort Worth Opera and Symphony, and even go over to Dallas for the Dallas Opera. I play golf a couple times a week and am involved with a service club that helps kids. Mary Ellen is again a docent at the Kimbell Art Museum. My son and his wife just had twins, so we now have four grandchildren nearby and two more in Austin. We feel well positioned for what we expect will be the final chapter of our lives.

Mary Ellen responded to two separate questions, and somehow had two different fonts.

Much has happened in the last 50 years of my life that I certainly would not have anticipated. Who would have thought I would end up in Fort Worth, Texas? But here we are and happily so.

We started out in Connecticut, then to Brooklyn Heights and Pelham Manor, New York. Dick was an attorney for American Airlines and we moved with its headquarters to Fort Worth, Texas in 1979. In 1991, he took early retirement from American and went into private practice in Washington, DC. We, therefore, moved to Alexandria, Virginia. Now that he is really retired, last year we moved back to Texas where we have two of our children and six of our grandchildren. Moving is challenging, but one learns from new places and new people.

Because of our airline privileges, we have traveled a great deal over the years. When the children were young, we took them abroad on vacation every year -- it was cheaper than going to Cape Cod. Dick's professional life has also required travel to Europe, and I have accompanied him on a number of occasions. We have had many adventures.

Over the years, I developed a great interest in art and architecture. This interest has been nurtured by my travels, as well as museum experiences. Dick and I share a love of Opera and happily have lived in cities with fine opera companies.

I have learned that you can't plan your life. Things happen and you must be flexible and adaptable, and seize opportunities as they present themselves.

Dick and I have been married 48 years and have three children and eight grandchildren -- including a new set of twin boys. I have a very eclectic employment history -- teacher, computer programmer, bookkeeper, relocation counselor, and tour guide.

I have been active in the Junior League in the cities in which I have lived, including chair of the Junior League of Washington, DC Sustainer Committee. My great love as a volunteer has been as an art museum docent at the Kimbell and Modern Art Museums in Fort Worth and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. I have been a docent for 30 years and am back at the Kimbell again.

I enjoy reading and belong to two book groups, one here in Fort Worth for ladies and a couple's group in Washington, DC which I started over 10 years ago.