Michael E. Leahy, 53; Massport worker was affable family man

Michael E. Leahy met people far beyond the boundaries of his tight-knit neighborhood as he went about his work at Logan.

Because he worked late shifts, Michael E. Leahy could adjust the rest of each day to accommodate the job he loved best: being a father.

"You've heard of soccer moms? He was a soccer dad of sorts," said his nephew Tom Leahy of Dorchester. "Only he was the football, baseball, basketball dad. He could attend three sporting events for his kids in one day, and that wasn't unheard of."

When Mr. Leahy's sons, Dennis and Conor, were young, he wheeled them around Dorchester in a double-stroller or rode his bicycle along Day Boulevard in South Boston with one of the boys in the child seat.

"It was really being a dad that was his calling in life," said Mr. Leahy's niece Ann McGough of Westwood. "That was his number one priority."

While working for the Massachusetts Port Authority on Dec. 14, Mr. Leahy, 53, suffered a heart attack and collapsed after a lengthy shift plowing at Logan International Airport. He died Dec. 21 at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"He really, really loved people, and he had the innate ability to make people laugh," his niece said. "Whenever we saw Michael, he'd light up with a big smile and say, 'Hi beautiful! Hi gorgeous!' And no matter how busy life got, he always made time to pick up the phone and say, 'How you doing?' "

Name a person Mr. Leahy knew - anyone he had ever met, actually - and a tale would quickly follow.

"He had a great memory and he loved - loved - to tell a story," his niece said. "You'd say, 'I saw your friend so-and-so,' and he'd say, 'Oh, so-and-so' - then he'd tell you a great story."

A knowledge of who did what and how that could be woven into life's narrative came with the territory for Mr. Leahy, and his territory was the Neponset section of Dorchester. A Neponset boy who grew up to be a Neponset man, he never moved away.

"Right now I'm standing in the only house he ever lived in," his nephew said by phone. "He grew up here with his brothers. In 53 years, he's only had one address."

The youngest of five, Mr. Leahy was a boy when his father died, and relatives say that probably contributed to his own focus on fatherhood. "He'd say, 'When I'm a dad, that's it,' " his niece said.

Mr. Leahy graduated from Dorchester High School and worked in several jobs before he was hired by Massport. Along the way he met Patricia Langan, who grew up in Charlestown.

They married "after a short courtship - from 1980 to 1990," joked Mr. Leahy's brother James of Dorchester.

He said that like their father, his youngest brother had a knack for organizing outings for the large, extended family. In August, Mr. Leahy put together a bus trip for about 60 people. They left Boston early, traveled to Yankee Stadium in New York City to watch the Red Sox play the Yankees, and returned late at night.

"It was our people, the Neponset people, the Dorchester people," James Leahy said. "We all had a great time."

With his welcoming presence, Mr. Leahy found it easy to meet people far beyond the boundaries of his tight-knit neighborhood as he went about his work at Logan.

"He met more people over at the airport because he had that smile and that magnetic personality. You couldn't help but love him," his niece said. "He'd come home and say, 'I met Faye Dunaway today.' "

While Mr. Leahy was hospitalized, family members gathered in his room and played him CDs from two of his favorite bands, Grand Funk Railroad and the Irish group the Saw Doctors.

"We all got a chance to tell him how much we loved him, and we got to pray for him and sing to him," his niece said. "As unbelievably tragic as this is, he would have gotten a kick out of us being there. We all told Uncle Michael stories."

The stories continued when the extended family gathered Christmas Eve, three days after Mr. Leahy died, and watched videotapes from Christmas gatherings in the past. There, on the television, Mr. Leahy held court again, laughing as he told tales of encounters with family members and friends.

"It would have been easy to stay home and be sad," his niece said. "It was a very bittersweet night, but we all realized how lucky we are to have such a great family and how lucky we were to have uncle Michael."

In addition to his wife, two sons, brother, niece, and nephew, Mr. Leahy leaves two other brothers, Brian of Dorchester and Gerard of South Boston.

A funeral Mass will be said today at 10 a.m. in St. Ann Church in Dorchester. Burial will be in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Dorchester.