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An obituary for Patrick J. O'Hare appeared in the September, 1939 American Rifleman magazine as follows: Camp Perry isn't going to be quite the same this year. It will look the same, with all of the color and noise and everything else that makes Perry the place it is, but there'll be one familiar face missing and with it, the soft-spoken Irish brogue of Paddy O'Hare. Paddy undoubtedly was better known to the shooting fraternity at large than any other of the thousands who have left their mark on the target shooting game of this country. He had never missed a firing of the National Matches since their inception in 1903, and at Camp Perry, Paddy's ruddy, friendly face became more of an instutuion that that of the Executive Officer. Paddy O'Hare's own shooting career dated far back of that first National Match in 1903. One of the "grand old men" of the shooting game, Paddy's personal history was that of the game itself, from its start as a dormant infant at the close of the nineteenth century to the important place it now holds among the naton's sports. Paddy's role as a shooter embraced many of the illustrious firsts of the game, of which he numbered as preeminent the fact that he was selected as a member of the first U.S. Dewar team, which brought to these shores the big silver cup that has played a stellar part in our small bore game ever since. Born in Ireland, Paddy's life bridged all of the significant periods of U.S. target shooting history. His 71 years spanned the growth from Creedmoor, cradle of long range shooting as we know it, to the present National matches, fell but a few months short of witnessing the latest development in the game - the trial on the Lake Erie range of the new Garand semi-automatic, which may write another chapter for the spout of Yankee marksmanship. O'Hare came to America 52 years ago, when small bore shooting was unheard of, and settled in Jersey City, where he lived until 1902. It was here in Jersey City, along with Bill Tewes, later Harry Pope and others of that day, that Paddy's shooting prowess began to make itself known. Many are the stories told of those bygone days - yarns of the birth of our shooting game as told by Paddy himself over a cup of tea, poured in the familiar shack on Commercial Row that was Paddy's trade mark...of Paddy, with love of shooting transcending all else, slipping off of a Sunday morning with partner Bill Tewes, when, instead of attending Mass, the pair would practice at targets behind an abandoned cemeterey...and of Paddy's barroom, with the shooting gallery in the back room. Paddy, it seems, had spent all manner of money on the splendid brass lamp that provided sole illumination for the tiny range, and religiously admonished every new-comer to mind his aim, lest a stray bullet hit that precious lamp. But sad to relate, Paddy's own bullet, released in a careless moment, was the one that struck the lamp down, and worse than that, the resulting blaze set fire to the building, barroom, range and all. Best known to the non-traveling element of the shooting fraternity through the familiar yellow-backed catalog of shooters' supplies, in which were listed all of the little gadgets that no one else could suppply, Paddy's late years were spent as an importer and manufacturer of shooting equipment. His thiry-nine trips back to England and "the auld sod" were in quest of new items that might appeal to the American rifle shooter. Less familiarly known is the fact that he served 37 years as National Guard armorer in Newark and Jersey City. One thing is certain. Paddy will not be forgotten...not as long as quaking rookie shoters go up on the firing line for the first time in a big match with one of Paddy's sight mikes helping out with half forgotten sight settings, or as long as the Dewar match is fired, with the memory of Paddy's year after year service as British observer, or as long as the O'Hare establishment is a part of Commercial Row. And it is sure to be carried on by two sons who are as Irish, and as interested in the shooting game, as Paddy was.
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