James Delaney McCahill

The youngest of five children, Jim overcame the early loss of his father (when Jim was eleven) to graduate from Duquesne University with a Degree in Accounting. He worked full-time while attending college full-time, then joined General Motors as an accountant shortly before he graduated. Jim went on to become a Comptroller for GM, where he spent his entire professional career. During his tenure with GM, Jim and his family were transferred to different cities and states every few years. Because of these moves, Jim established friendships with many special people who touched his and his family's life and with whom he remained friends for his entire life. Jim's family, his friends, and his Church were the blessings which were dearest to him. Jim was a devout Catholic and attended daily Mass for over thirty years. He was probably best known for his quick wit and sense of humor, but he also possessed the virtues of honesty, integrity, faithfulness and dedication to his Church and to his family.

Jim enjoyed sports from the time he was a boy, although later in life he became disillusioned with professional and college athletics because of the poor sportsmanship and self-promotion in those organizations which, he believed, became ever more prevalent each year. Of all sports, golf was Jim's favorite. When he was a teenager, he and his cousin, Dewey (who was also his best friend), worked as caddies. Because they couldn't afford the real game, they dug nine holes in Jim's mother's front yard and nine holes in the back, found a couple of balls, cut the bottoms off of brooms and “played golf.” Jim eventually moved on to real golf courses and accomplished the rare feat of hitting a hole-in-one on more than one occasion. Jim continued to enjoy the game and played until the week before he became ill. He often teed off at sunup “to beat the fanatics.”

In 2004, Jim published his memoir: “My Cup Floodeth Over.” The book's title expressed Jim's recognition of and gratitude for his many blessings – mostly, his long-lasting relationships with family and friends. In the book, Jim compiled a number of humorous stories from his life and reminisced about the people he had known. His stories, whether about his courtship of Betty, his life and friends at General Motors, or his times as a father and grandfather, are filled with humor and enjoyment of life.

Jim took his responsibilities seriously without taking himself too seriously. He will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him.

Jim was preceded in death by his mother and father, Walter A. and Isabelle M. McCahill; his brothers, Walter McCahill and Jack McCahill; and sisters, Rita Jane Wall and Marie Foster. He is survived by his loving wife, Elizbeth S. (Betty) McCahill of Missouri City, TX; daughter and son-in-law, Beth and Warren Taylor of Pearland, TX; and grandson, Daniel Taylor of Houston, TX.

A Memorial Mass will be held at 10:00 AM, Friday, June 21, 2013, in The Chapel of Divine Mercy @ St. Laurence Catholic Church, 3100 Sweetwater Blvd., Sugar Land, with the Rev. Santy Kurian, officiating.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Jim's memory be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belfort Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32256 (www.woundedwarriorproject.org).