Patrick Carr is proud of his Irish upbringing

IRISH PRIDE: Cottonwood resident Patrick Carr traces his lineage from his great-grandfather leaving Ireland to his family’s dedication to public office. On the wall are photos of family members meeting with various presidents and at least one pope.

Beyond wearing a green sweater, tweed cap and proving his ability to croon "Danny Boy" while playing the organ, Cottonwood resident Patrick Carr treasures his Irish-Catholic lineage well above just celebrating St. Patrick's Day on March 17.

Having grown up in St. Joseph's Parochial School in Redding, Carr said he was raised mostly by Irish nuns. Of his Irish-Catholic upbringing, Carr said its hallmark was "a strong sense commitment to doing what is right ... or experience an exaggerated sense of guilt!"

A Vietnam War veteran with a master's degree in economics from Washington State University, Carr retired from management positions with a shipping container company, Sea-Land, ATL, and transportation planning with the California Department of Transportation.

Carr, 65, possesses reams of letters, documents, newspaper clipping and photos detailing his family's political involvement from 1907 to the 1970s, a topic that he hopes to someday capture in a book.

The book, he said, will emphasize his family's "strong and abiding sense of duty and stewardship."

His great-grandfather Francis Carr immigrated from Killybegs, Ireland, to New York in 1852. He eventually became principal of an elementary school in Old Shasta in 1874.

His grandfather, Judge Francis C. Carr, who served as Justice of the Peace in Redding in 1910, later worked as a water rights attorney advocating for funds from U.S. Congress for Central Valley Project goals including construction of Shasta Dam. Later, the aptly named Judge Francis Carr Power plant, fed by Clear Creek, was named in his grandfather's honor, Patrick Carr said.

While Judge Francis C. Carr lobbied congress, he stayed with his son Lawrence who was then attending college at Georgetown University.

Lawrence Carr, Patrick's father, served as Shasta County District Attorney from 1938-1941 and later served as master of ceremonies when President John Kennedy dedicated the Whiskeytown Dam in 1963.

Patrick Carr's uncle, James Carr worked as undersecretary of Secretery of the Department of the Interior Stewart Udall in the 1960s, Carr said.