Arlan J. "A.J." McNally

He is survived by his wife of 53 years Pat; son Tim; grandsons James McNally & Jason McNally; brothers Larry McNally & wife Ester, Mike McAloon & wife Karen & a brother in law Kenneth Sorensen along with numerous nieces & nephews. The family will be accepting guests at Forest Park East Funeral Home on Tuesday, July 19th at 6pm till 8pm. A funeral service will be held the following day Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at 12:30pm in the Chapel.

He went by many names; A. J. -Mac-Jim-Uncle Jim Paw Paw-Grandpa and Honey! Jim was born in Van Texas in 1934, so he was always a Texan from the beginning. When the U.S. Army sent him to Germany in the 1950's, one winter there, and he couldn't wait to get back to Texas. He wasn't home long before he met Pat and they married in 1958. In 1959, son Tim was born and their life together was underway. Jim was an avid camper, fisherman and hunter. Just about every weekend, the family was going camping on the Guadalupe River or down the road to Galveston for a little fishing or duck hunting. He loved to have fish frys with his buddies and go white wing hunting in the Valley. One time, he bought a little Sunfish sailboat and couldn't wait to put it in the water, even though it was January. Not being an experienced sailor, he learned just how cold the water was real quick. One year for Mothers' Day, he bought "Pat' a little 250cc Kawasaki motorcycle; oh yeah, just what she wanted!!! Putting Pat on the back, they followed his brother Mike and wife Karen on their motorcycles over to a reservoir that had high dirt hills...Mike and Karen made it up okay, but Jim and Pat came tumbling back down...motorcycle coming down close behind them. No one was hurt, just embarrassed and dirty. Pats' Dad, Neils got Jim into duck hunting in West Bay. Jim came up with the idea of using these large wooden olive barrels for duck blinds. Pats' brother Kenneth found some cement cores to weigh them down, about 35 pounds per barrel. Right after the blinds were built, they were out there sitting, the North wind blowing, water washing over the barrels and decoys blowing away. They decided they had had enough. The next time they went to hunt, the barrels were nearly submerged; the weight and wave action almost did them in. Afterward called the olive barrel season, it gave everyone a good laugh. One year Jim got to go salmon fishing in British Columbia, a trip of a lifetime. He made many very close friends during his 32 years with Brown and Root before he retired. His life was filled with hard work, good friends and a loving family, who all have their own memories. We can look back to all the good times that his life held. As an old Irish saying goes “May the saddest days of your life be no worse than the happiest days of your past.”

Arrangements under the direction of Forest Park East Funeral Home and Cemetery, Webster, TX.