Kevin Callahan could make anything fun. From growing tomatoes to a bus ride across Ireland. If Mr. Callahan was involved, there was sure to be laughter.
Oh and his laugh was epic, his daughters said.
"I could be in my room upstairs and he'd be outside in the backyard," said his oldest daughter Maggie Callahan, trying to contain her laughter. "And he'd start laughing, and you could hear it all over the house."
"It was just so loud," added his second, and youngest, daughter, Mary Rose Callahan. "It was great."
Mr. Callahan was a family man, and it wasn't just his children who had his attention. As the Callahans prepared to move from their Cleveland, Ga., home in 2008, Mr. Callahan wanted to make sure they lived close to his brother-in-law Tom Ryan. Mr. Ryan's wife, who was Mr. Callahan's baby sister, died the year before. The couple had two kids when his sister died and Mr. Callahan wanted to be in striking distance, so they bought a house just down the street.
But Sunday, it was Mr. Ryan who went to see about the Callahans. Kim Callahan awoke and found her husband collapsed in an upstairs hallway. She called for paramedics, but Mrs. Callahan knew her husband, with whom she'd just celebrated 24 years of marriage, was gone.
Kevin Byrne Callahan, of Roswell, died suddenly Sunday at home of unknown causes. He was 53. His body was cremated and a memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Jude Catholic Church, Sandy Springs. Arrangements are being handled by Sandy Springs Chapel Funeral Directors.
Sports were a huge part of Mr. Callahan's life. As a youngster growing up in Dunwoody, he played soccer and football at St. Pius X Catholic High School. As an adult, the D.C. born athlete kept the spirit alive in his daughters, coaching their recreational soccer and basketball teams as they grew up. He was an avid golf player, a skill which almost won him $1 million in a St. Pius alumni event.
In the 33-second video, posted on YouTube in 2010, you can barely make out Mr. Callahan teeing off, but seconds later the ball drops into view, just short of the hole, and a quick bounce and roll later he missed the hole-in-one prize by inches.
Among his family and friends, he was as famous for that shot as he was for the Facebook updates of the tomatoes he'd grow every year, his wife said. And then there were his comical, and impromptu, performances of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," one of his favorite songs, which he once performed on a bus trip in Ireland.
"He just took the driver's microphone and burst into song," his wife said. "It was hysterical, and it was Kevin."
In addition to his wife and daughters, Mr. Callahan is survived by his brothers, Neal Callahan of Pine Mountain, and Bob Callahan, Tom Callahan, John Callahan and Dennis Callahan all of metro Atlanta; and sisters Maureen Gottfried and Sheila Spikes both of Columbus, Ga.
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