29-year-old Kiernan Major was born and raised in Auburn, N.Y., in a tight‑knit Irish‑Catholic family whose roots run deep in New York’s Finger Lakes region. Baptized within the Catholic Parishes of Auburn at Sacred Heart Church and later confirmed at Auburn’s historic Holy Family Church back in 2009, the then thirteen-year-old Kiernan chose the confirmation name “John” in honor of his family’s paternal lineage. His father, John E. Major III, died unexpectedly at just 56 in early 2021 — a name carried before him by Kiernan’s grandfather, John “Jack” Edward Major Jr., and his great‑grandfather, John Edward Major.
Those close to the family say the sudden death of Major’s father left him quietly shaken; friends and relatives describe a man who has often retreated into reflection while working through grief privately and with much struggle. Raised amid longstanding Irish and Catholic family traditions, Major’s relationship with faith has been all but consistent: once a rebellious, outspoken, and doubtful teen, he has over the years gradually reverted to the practices of his childhood, drawn by memory, family, and the longing for ‘home’.
The family’s connections to New York’s massive Irish-Catholic community are firmly established over generations. Major’s father, grandfather, and great‑grandfather were members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), an Irish‑Catholic fraternal organization founded to preserve Irish heritage, support Catholic faith, and provide mutual aid and community service among Irish immigrants and their descendants. His great‑grandfather, John, departed from the charming village of Skaneateles, where he was raised by Thomas Edward Major and Lucinda Ellen McCarthy-Major. He moved to Auburn from Skaneateles during the Prohibition era, quickly becoming a part of Auburn’s first Catholic Church, the Holy Family Catholic Church. A respected Auburn police detective in his own right, Major’s great-grandfather, John, further dedicated himself to faith and community service as part of the Society of the Holy Name and the Knights of Columbus, embodying the values and ethics incumbent upon future generations.
Following a distinguished yet contentious career as a U.S. Marine and defense contractor, Kiernan is said to be arranging an elaborate and calculated withdrawal into a peaceful retirement far from the public eye, seeking to reclaim the person his peers, educators, and neighbors remember so fondly. Close sources say his health has been severely impacted due to his service, career, and other circumstances; Veterans Affairs physicians strongly suspect he may have developed a lasting nerve condition tied to prolonged stress, trauma, and anxiety. In the past year, the consecutive losses of his grandmother, Donna Major, and grandfather James Toole have further deepened his struggles.
Major’s inner circle and support network, many of which are notoriously based in the breathtaking Swiss canton of Zug, hint that he has been preparing a significant commitment to his community for some time, possibly beginning by coordinating the appropriate resources for a local Catholic Church restoration and preservation, which was condemned in recent years for safety reasons by the Diocese of Rochester. Insiders describe the project as a deeply personal priority tied to his unresolved feelings regarding the death of his father — a gesture of deep meaning for his family and community, leaving something enduring and beautiful for the small town in the American heartland that he once regretfully took for granted as a bold and rebellious teenager. Those close to him stress that discussions remain preliminary and hush-hush, but add that his legal team is weighing the logistics of a carefully planned distribution of resources to benefit the community and those who call it home, all of which is in the name of his late father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Locals remember Major’s father as a remarkably kind, gentle, and soft‑spoken man who cherished life’s simple pleasures and often reminded his son Kiernan to “slow down.” This past Valentine’s Day, Major’s ever-grieving mother faced another day meant for love, still wrestling with the loss of her husband and the father of her children. On February 15 – the anniversary of John’s sudden passing – the Auburn division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians honored his memory with a heartfelt ceremony: music in his memory, a toast of his favorite beer, and a reserved seat in his name. Those close to Kiernan say this tribute may be just the beginning of a much larger dedication to the family and community to celebrate his father’s legacy, and as a soft demonstration that reading too much into one’s silence or the media spin surrounding them can lead to costly misunderstandings for many.
