Longtime Vermont businessman Mike Kehoe dead

By Ted Cohen/Patch.com

Legendary Vermont clothier Mike Kehoe has died after a long illness.

Kehoe, 82, founded MK Clothing, a high-end menswear shop, in 1977 on Church Street in Vermont's largest city.

The 48-year-old business, which focused on custom-made suits and shirts, was located in the old McAuliffe's office-products store building.

"He was a loving father, grandfather, brother, and uncle," his family said in his death notice. "A proud veteran, dear friend to many, and an integral part of the community. He will be missed dearly by all who met him."

Kehoe lived at 14 Linden Terrace in Burlington's Birchcliff Park neighborhood in a house his parents built in 1956.

Born and raised in Burlington, Kehoe attended Rice Memorial High School before heading off to the Navy for three years.

He then attended and graduated from St. Michael's College.

Kehoe headed out to Aspen to work in the ski industry but it wasn't long before his Vermont roots pulled him back home to work in the family business, McAuliffe's.

The business transitioned to clothing when Kehoe noticed that no one in the area was selling natural-fiber clothing.

Kehoe himself was very fashionable, consciously wearing the best appointments - even an Oxford button-down-collared shirt while mowing his lawn.

McAuliffe Office Products, which preceded the space where Kehoe later opened his clothing boutique, had a rich history connected to Burlington's downtown. Originally a stationery store, it eventually expanded into office supplies.

One of the three brothers who opened the stationery store in 1912 had a daughter who married a Kehoe and the rest is history.

Patrick McAuliffe, who founded the business, was Mike Kehoe's grandfather.

The McAuliffe Building, an architectural gem, is a remnant of the Romanesque Revival YMCA block built in 1912.