The headlines came later.  The high-profile corruption prosecutions, the multi-defendant gang indictments, the high-dollar settlements with drug companies—all of it came later.   Pat Meehan’s successes as a prosecutor were preceded, years earlier, by an education in service.

Pat learned from his mother and father that true service often requires a surrender of personal comfort and an uncommon willingness to persevere.  Service, he learned, requires sacrifice and courage, and a desire to give without the expectation of repayment.

Neither of Pat’s parents had a college degree.  There was no time.  After high school, one went to work and the other went to war. It was what the times demanded of each, but they were determined that education would be the gift they gave to their children. Pat’s father worked as a construction estimator while his mother earned extra money as a secretary. Together, they saved enough to send Pat to the schools they thought were best and Pat would make sure his parents’ sacrifice was not in vain.

There still wasn’t enough money to fund four years of college but when Pat packed up and headed for Bowdoin College in Maine, he took his mom and dad’s work ethic with him.  He earned money for tuition by working at a rubber factory, digging manholes behind an asphalt truck during the summer, and refereeing ice hockey games.  Pat was chosen by a faculty committee to deliver the commencement address.  His speech was about winning amid adversity.  Pat would work his way through law school too, at Temple University.

What Pat learned from his parents about service became part of who Pat Meehan is, as a husband and father, as a prosecutor, as a public servant.

When, as U.S. Attorney, Pat decided to take a stand against “pay-to-play” politics in Philadelphia, he knew he would be walking into a minefield.  He went anyway.  Pat’s office and the F.B.I. took the unprecedented step of wiretapping the mayor’s office and when the bug was discovered, Pat’s credibility was questioned.  The character of his attorneys and agents was under attack.  But Pat made the call and stuck by it.  Eventually, that wiretap led to a string of convictions and the city’s political culture was forever changed.

Pat took on corruption in Philadelphia because he knew the public’s faith in government, among other things, was at stake.  The situation was dire and it required someone to stand up on behalf of the taxpayers and say, “Business as usual must stop.”  Pat believes being a public servant means representing those who feel voiceless and vulnerable.

Pat worked to ensure quality of care for elderly residents of nursing and assistant living facilities.  He stopped scam artists who targeted seniors in crooked telemarketing schemes.  As U.S. Attorney and District Attorney of Delaware County, Pat prosecuted predators of children and found new ways to deal with domestic violence and to get help for the victims.  He took important steps toward making college campuses safer for women and he expanded “Youth Aid Panels” to give at-risk young men and women a second chance.

Pat’s list of accomplishments goes on.  In September 2001, he established an Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council, to protect the region and prepare first responders.  He held manufacturers responsible for illegally discharging hazardous materials into the region’s waters.  He established a predatory lending group to protect consumers from unscrupulous lenders and contractors.  He sat on the attorney general’s Corporate Fraud Task Force and he formed the Regional Identity Theft Working Group.  He also worked with federal judges and public defenders to address concerns about witness safety.   

But before all of this, Pat was learning about service.  And when he stood on the front lawn of his Drexel Hill home and announced his candidacy for congress, with his wife Carolyn and sons Patrick, Jack, and Colin at his side, Pat made sure to give credit where it was due.

“We were taught to contribute and to aspire,” he said.  “Our parents believed that with education, hard work, health and an occasional good break – the opportunities were limitless for their children.  I want my own children and my neighbor’s children to have a similar faith in their future.”