James Norman Barrett, Jr. of Houston, TX, formerly of Watertown, MA passed away on January 8, 2021, age 94 from complications related to COVID in peace at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. Jim is survived by his wife, Eva of 57 years; their two children and families: Jim of New Hampshire (Claudia, Nathaniel, and Caroline) and David of Maine (Amy, Danielle, Andrew, and Christopher); and his brother, Richard of Needham, MA. He was preceded in death by his sister, Muriel, of Falls Church, VA and his brother Bob of Wellesley, MA. Jim was a proud graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in 1946, where he attended on a U.S. Navy Scholarship and served his country at the end of World War II at sea. He later attended Boston University where he received his law degree and Harvard University, where he was awarded his Master of Business Administration.
During his graduate studies, Jim spent a considerable amount of time in Spain and developed fluency in Spanish. This made him popular with U.S. companies who at the time were building manufacturing plants in South America and Jim soon found himself working in Caracas, Venezuela, for General Tire where he met his wife, Eva in 1960. Eva moved to the United States in 1961 to attend Emmanuel College so Jim and Eva maintained a long-distance courtship for two years, during which Jim accepted a position with Ford Motor Company in Valencia, Venezuela. Jim & Eva were married in February 1963 in Belmont, MA at Jim’s family church. By that time, Jim’s service in Venezuela was over and he was transferred to Ford’s home office in Detroit Michigan. The next twenty years brought several moves to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, several jobs, and two children, with the family ultimately relocating to what would become Jim’s final home, Houston, TX in 1978.
Jim was a firm believer in education with his mother and three aunts all having been teachers. He felt that as education had furnished him with the knowledge and contacts to make a comfortable living, he should pay it forward, ultimately endowing a chair at his alma mater, Holy Cross in honor of his parents, the James N. and Sarah L. O'Reilly Barrett Chair in Creative Writing. He honored his mother’s Canadian ancestors by establishing the Patrick J. and Louise Whealen O’Reilly Merit Scholarship which awards a full scholarship every two years to deserving students from Newfoundland, Canada.
After retiring from Union Texas Petroleum Jim and Eva took some time to travel the world, visiting places both on and off the beaten path. One favorite was Brooks Lodge in Alaska, a place where you could view the mammoth Brown bears up close in their environment. They were also unafraid to go to the less “touristy” places; a notable one being a trip down the Amazon river in a dugout canoe and a night spent in a cabin among insects as big as your hand.
Jim was an avid reader. He enjoyed thrillers as well as historical works, Morris West and James Michener being among his favorites. He was a lifelong Catholic and maintained a close relationship with his local church all his life; a member of St. Cecilia Parish in Houston for 42 years.
He will be greatly missed by his loved ones. Due to the pandemic, the family has chosen not to have visiting hours. His life will be celebrated in a Mass of the Resurrection at St. Cecilia Parish after which he will be transported to Needham, MA where he will be interred at St. Mary’s Cemetery in a family plot. The family plans to celebrate Jim’s life with a memorial during the summer of 2021 in Boston.
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