Paul Welch Hegarty

Paul W. Hegarty, a towering presence among his extended family and his wide circle of friends, died peacefully of natural causes on Jan. 17 after a brief transition to an assisted-living facility in Scottsdale, Ariz. Hegarty was 86.

Along with his beloved wife of 56 years, Mary Alice, who died late in 2024 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Hegarty raised and nurtured five sons while constantly providing guidance and a helping hand to friends and family members. A self-made man who came from humble beginnings, Hegarty continually stressed hard work, discipline, and self-reliance but never turned away from those in need of assistance.

Sometimes distant, often gruff, and always demanding, Hegarty’s stern demeanor too often obscured a wry sense of humor, an embracing sense of camaraderie, and a benevolence that had few bounds. Though religious, he derived enormous pleasure from the sins the Irish Catholic church has historically abided, enjoying a strong drink or six, a well-timed curse, and a generous gamble on a fast horse.

The house he maintained with his wife in Phoenix for nearly 50 years was a constant hub of activity, the site of countless cookouts and raucous, often high-stakes sporting contests and late-night billiard games. The cupboards and liquor cabinets were always well stocked, even though no one ever passed a hat to cover the costs of replenishment.

Paul Welch Hegarty was born on Oct. 5, 1939, in Terre Haute, Ind., to Paul Reilly Hegarty, the son of an Irish immigrant from Killybegs, County Donegal, and Anna Francis Welch. According to his freshman yearbook, he excelled at athletics, starring on the football, basketball, and baseball teams in his first year in high school. He was characterized as a “swell guy” by a suspiciously large number of female classmates.

Hegarty received a football scholarship from Indiana State University and attended college for one year before being drafted into the army and stationing in South Carolina for two years. After his service, he joined a transportation company, IML, and moved to St. Louis.

Through a mutual friend, Hegarty was introduced to Mary Alice Hayden, the second of nine children born to Walter and Hazel Hayden of Evansville, Ind., in 1966. The two were married on May 11, 1968, in Evansville.

Paul’s work with IML led the couple to relocate often during the early years of their marriage. Paul Reilly and Michael Patrick, identical twins, were born in 1970 in Anaheim, Calif. A third son, Matthew Mark, was born in St. Louis, Mo., in early 1972. A fourth, Brian Joseph, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1973.

After two years in Honolulu, Hawaii, the couple returned to Anaheim briefly before relocating to Phoenix in 1977. They never moved again. A fifth son, Timothy Ryan, was born in Phoenix in 1980.

At the time it was purchased, the Phoenix home was located on the edge of the city, bounded by a golf course on its backside and an equestrian facility across the street. While the golf course remains, the horse stables and paddocks were demolished for housing in the 1980s.

Hegarty would play golf well into his late 70s, and horses would remain a source of entertainment and pleasure until his death. In the late 1980s, Hegarty for a short time owned a small string of low-level claiming horses that raced at Turf Paradise, including a filly named Little Fanny Annie, who won a one-mile race in 1989 after dropping 26 lengths behind the field. Late in 2025, at the age of 85, Hegarty took down an entire superfecta pool at Retama Park.

In addition to golf, Hegarty was an avid racquetball player, enjoying spirited matches with friends at the Elks, where he was a longtime member. At various times, he had season tickets for Arizona State University football and basketball and, most notably for 30 years, the Phoenix Suns, a passion of his spirited, diminutive wife. He also frequently attended the Indianapolis 500.

Although the work was often unglamorous, Hegarty was a successful transportation agent who started his own company, Suncoast, after moving to Phoenix. The proceeds from his work and separate investments in real estate allowed his family to live in comfort though never extravagantly. He did not fully retire from work until 2023.

Paul and Mary Alice traveled extensively throughout the U.S. on vacations and work trips with friends, family, and work colleagues, and in 2013, the couple joined two longtime family friends on a 10-day Alaska cruise. In 2004, Hegarty visited his ancestral home, Ireland, for the first time, accompanied by his oldest son, Paul. A year later, four of his sons joined him on a return visit, for a trip that revolved heavily around golf, Guinness, and the gallops.

The Hegarty family endured heartbreak in 2009 when Brian, the fourth son, unexpectedly died. Although the scars never healed, the tragedy drew the family closer together. Five years later, Mary Alice was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The slow deterioration in her condition gathered family and friends ever closer, with Paul Hegarty always enduring at the unshakeable center.

Hegarty was admitted to an assisted-living facility one month prior to his death. During his brief stay, he was visited often by family and friends. As per his wishes, a private ceremony was held on Thursday, followed by a wake at the Phoenix home.

Hegarty is survived by sons Paul of Washington D.C., Michael of Phoenix, Matthew of Lexington, Ky., and Timothy, also of Phoenix. Grandchildren Jackson, Azacca, Dawson, Juniper, Ivy, and Rosemarie can no longer raid their grandfather’s secret stash of candy. In addition to his wife Mary Alice and son Brian, he was pre-deceased by a treasured older sister, Marilyn Siner of Terre Haute.

Donations in Paul Hegarty’s memory can be made to Hospice of the Valley. Residents of Phoenix or visitors to the local area can also raise a glass at Christo’s, the downtown restaurant that was the generous host of decades of boisterous and indulgent family dinners often stretching well past closing time.

Tell Santino you are there to toast a great man now gone. He will know who you are talking about.