He is survived by son Sean, three daughters June, Brooke and Erin, six grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Jim was born on August 31, 1943 in Petersburg, Virginia to James Henry and Doris Phillips McNally. He lived in Virginia for only a short time before moving, spending the majority of his boyhood in Washington, DC. That is where, even as a young boy, he blossomed into an entrepreneur; winning a much sought after trip to Hawaii through his successful enterprise with local a newspaper route. Jim attended Catholic school and served as an altar boy at his church.
When in his teens, Jim's family moved to Kannapolis, NC where he enjoyed some small fame by painting the billboard portrait of the star of his senior class play. He graduated from Winecoff High School with the class of '61 and joined the United States Navy that same summer.
Serving his boot camp training in Long Beach, CA, Jim then attended electronic and fire control school in Bainbridge, Maryland. It was during this time that he married his high school sweetheart and mother of his four children. Leaving Bainbridge, Jim was assigned to the US Naval Base in San Diego, California aboard the USS Diachenko where he served as a fire control technician. His ship was deployed to take part in the naval blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962.
After being discharged from the Navy, Jim moved back to his hometown, worked several different jobs, and decided his future was in a college education. A local accountant, hearing that Jim wanted a degree in accounting, hired him as an apprentice, and he put himself through school while working there and raising a family. As if that wasn't enough, he volunteered with the Cabarrus County Rescue Squad and also did a stent as a drummer in a small rock band.
In the late 60's, Jim was offered a sales job with a large national photography company with outlets all over the country. He moved many times with this job, becoming a manager and eventually moving back to the Charlotte area as a corporate executive before leaving to set his own path, first in real estate sales in the late 1980’s.
By the end of the century, in the late ‘90’s, Jim bought Tommy’s Pub on Central Avenue. Until the day it was forced to shut down due to zoning in 2016, his pub remained one of the oldest, most popular dive bars in the Charlotte area.
The things that Jim’s friends and family will remember most about him are how intelligent, and wise he was; he was also very humble, friendly, and kind. He was a genuinely good man, who will be missed more than he would have ever known.
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