# Joe Feeney > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Joe_Feeney > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Joe_Feeney.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Feeney > Source revision: 1301561463 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) For the football (soccer) player, see [Joe Feeney (footballer)](/source/Joe_Feeney_(footballer)). For the Irish Olympic wrestler, see [Joe Feeney (wrestler)](/source/Joe_Feeney_(wrestler)). **Joe Feeney** (August 15, 1931 – April 16, 2008) was an American [tenor](/source/Tenor) singer who was a member of *[The Lawrence Welk Show](/source/The_Lawrence_Welk_Show)* television program. ## Early years Born to an [Irish-American](/source/Irish-American) family in [Grand Island](/source/Grand_Island,_Nebraska), [Nebraska](/source/Nebraska), Feeney had two brothers.[1] He started singing as a boy [soprano](/source/Alto) in St. Mary Cathedral,[2] his parish church [choir](/source/Choir) and after graduating from St. Mary's Cathedral High School,[3] he landed a guest appearance on the show *Youth Opportunity Hour*. His mother Mary supported him in all of his activities. Feeney studied at St. Benedict College in Atchison, Kansas, and at the [University of Nebraska](/source/University_of_Nebraska%E2%80%93Lincoln).[2] While he attended to his studies at the [University of Nebraska](/source/University_of_Nebraska%E2%80%93Lincoln), he entered several singing contests, which included a spot on the [Arlene Francis](/source/Arlene_Francis) program, *Talent Patrol*.[4] In 1956, while he was working at radio station [WOW](/source/WOWT) in [Omaha](/source/Omaha,_Nebraska), the station manager sent recordings of Feeney's voice to the Welk offices in [Santa Monica](/source/Santa_Monica), [California](/source/California) where [Lawrence Welk](/source/Lawrence_Welk) offered him a job on his show. After their second child was born, Feeney had to drop out of the university for financial reasons. He sold children's encyclopedias until the position on the Welk show became available.[5] ## *The Lawrence Welk Show* From 1957 to 1982, when the Welk show ended production, Feeney was the program's featured Irish [tenor](/source/Tenor).[6] Among his selection of musical numbers that were popular with the Welk audience were *[Danny Boy](/source/Danny_Boy)*, *[Galway Bay](/source/Galway_Bay)*, *[Sweet Leilani](/source/Sweet_Leilani)* and the [Mario Lanza](/source/Mario_Lanza) classic *[Be My Love](/source/Be_My_Love)*. ## Other professional activities He also has the distinction of singing for five [US Presidents](/source/US_Presidents) and performed at [Carnegie Hall](/source/Carnegie_Hall) three times; in 1975 he sang for [Pope Paul VI](/source/Pope_Paul_VI) at the [canonization](/source/Canonization) of [Mother Seton](/source/Mother_Seton), the first native-born American [saint](/source/Saint).[7] ## Personal life Feeney was the father of ten children with his first wife [Georgia Lee Gryva](/source/Georgia_Lee_Gryva), whom he met and married while they were at the University of Nebraska.[2] Feeney spent his time between his house in [Palm Springs California](/source/Palm_Springs,_California) and his vacation home in [San Marcos Mexico](/source/San_Marcos,_Guerrero). His last public performance was in November of 2007. One of his sons, Chris, is an accomplished [opera](/source/Opera) singer in his own right and often sang with his father in concerts. ## Death Feeney, a non-smoker, died of [emphysema](/source/Emphysema) at a hospice in [Carlsbad](/source/Carlsbad,_California), [California](/source/California) on April 16, 2008.[6] A son, Tim Feeney, said the family suspects he got the illness from years of exposure to [second-hand smoke](/source/Second-hand_smoke) in clubs and casinos.[8] He was survived by sons Joe Jr., George Patrick, Chris, Sean, Timothy, and Matt; daughters Kathy Feeney and Georgia Feeney, and eight grandchildren.[9] ## References 1. Dau, Kathy (April 20, 2008). ["Remembering Joe Feeney"](http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2008/apr/20/remembering-joe-feeney/). The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 29 July 2015. 1. ["Welk's Irish Tenor, Joe Feeney to Appear"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2901092/manitowoc_heraldtimes/). Manitowoc Herald-Times. March 7, 1975. p. 5. Retrieved July 28, 2015. – via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com) 1. Gloman, Chuck (March 16, 1988). ["Joe Feeney among trio bringing Welk music here"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2901337/standardspeaker/). *Standard-Speaker*. Standard-Speaker. p. 45. Retrieved July 28, 2015. – via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com) 1. [Welk Show Family - Biographies](http://www.welkshow.net) 1. ["'Unknown' Joe Feeney Has 30 Million Fans"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2901263/tyrone_daily_herald/). *Tyrone Daily Herald*. Tyrone Daily Herald. April 8, 1961. p. 5. Retrieved July 28, 2015. – via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com) 1. Potempa, Philip. "[Lawrence Welk's Irish tenor made a career crooning 'Danny Boy'](https://www.nwitimes.com/entertainment/columnists/offbeat/lawrence-welk-s-irish-tenor-made-a-career-crooning-danny/article_3f9f99a8-db12-535c-a2bd-a8e72006a8e5.html)", [The Times of Northwest Indiana](/source/The_Times_of_Northwest_Indiana), May 1, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2018. 1. [Joe Feeney Tenor Starred on 'Lawrence Welk'](http://www.welkshow.net); *[All About Jazz](/source/All_About_Jazz)*, April 23, 2008 1. [Joe Feeney, ‘Lawrence Welk Show’ Singer, Dies at 76](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/arts/television/24feeney.html); *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*, April 24, 2008 1. ["Lawrence Welk tenor Joe Feeney dies at 76"](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lawrence-welk-tenor-joe-feeney-110104). April 23, 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2015. ## External links - [Official Website](https://archive.today/20130416062106/http://www.welkshow.org/feeney.html) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joe Feeney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Feeney) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Feeney?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.