James "Jim" E. Pratt

Born in St. John’s Hospital in Queens on July 5, 1933, James was the eldest son of Robert Edward Pratt of Astoria and Mary Elizabeth Doris of Flatbush, both of whom traced their roots to Ireland. Although his family lived in East Flatbush, Jim spent his formative years in Laurelton, NY. He attended P.S. 156 through 7th grade after which his parents sent him to La Salle Military Academy, a private Catholic boarding school in Oakdale, NY. After his graduation from LaSalle, James earned a B.A. in English from Yale (1955) and a J.D. from Harvard Law School (1958), at which he had fond memories of his classmate, “Little Ruthie” -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

August 3, 1951 was, according to James, the single most important day in his life, the day he met the one and only love of his life, Geraldine McCabe – Gerry to her friends and Nanny to everyone else. They married five years later, on June 16,1956, at St. Vincent Ferrer (Manhattan), two weeks after Gerry graduated from Marymount College (Tarrytown, NY). Jim and Gerry’s romance lasted until the day he died, a scant 8 months short of their 70th wedding anniversary. Throughout their relationship, Jim would tell anyone who would listen that he never understood “how such a beautiful young woman could fall in love with me.”

While James was still in law school, in 1957, they started a family with the arrival of their first son, James Edward, Jr. (Jimmy), soon to be followed by Timothy John (Timmy) in 1958, and finally, Mary Elizabeth (Mary Beth) in 1960. His law school career was interrupted by a stint of peacetime military service, which James spent stateside at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. James was an expert marksman who held the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.

Although James practiced law for nearly 60 years, his career was only his fourth love, behind Gerry, his family and his Catholic faith. He was a faithful parishioner of St. Anne’s in Garden City, NY, during the 60 years when the family called that city their home, and then St. Peter’s in Staten Island, NY for the remaining 8 years of his life. Never to be accused of shyness, James was a strong voice for family, faith, commitment and loyalty.

James never took credit for any of the successes of his children, grandchildren and his extended family, however, he could not have been more proud of their many, many accomplishments, a pride that came through loud and clear whenever he spoke of them.

Jim and Gerry caught the travel bug and transmitted that bug to their children in the 1970s with an epic journey to Portugal and Spain. They traveled extensively – with and without the family – throughout the 1990s and 2000s, trips upon which Jim fondly reminisced for years to come.

James is survived by Gerry, his sibilings (Mary and Danny), his three children (Jimmy, Timmy and Mary Beth), his four grandchildren (Mick, Alexandra, Katie and Emily), and an extended family that he embraced as his own in every way (John, Sharon, Martha, Linda, Alexander and Christopher). He was predeceased by his brother, Robert.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center.