James A. O’Halloran, 93, died June 11, 2006 at a local hospital. He was born in Amherst, Maine on July 22, 1912 the eldest son of Charles and Julia (Jewett) O’Halloran. He graduated from Higgins Classical Institute in Charleston, Maine. He was predeceased by siblings Katherine, Norman, Robert and Arthur O’Halloran and Mary O’Halloran Fournier.
He is survived by his son Robert J. (Mick) and his wife Susan O’Halloran, grandson Parker G. O’Halloran, granddaughter Lucy and husband Oliver Lucia, and many nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his loving companion Barbara Deselle and many dear friends.
Jim was Chief Engineer serving on many ships from 1944-1979 while working for the Department of Defense. During this time he sailed throughout the world especially in the Pacific serving on many ships including hospital transports during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He was based in San Francisco where he lived for 50 years. Jim was fortunate enough to serve four years in Hawaii where he perfected his tennis game and enjoyed being among the first to attend and enjoy an early Elvis Presley concert. He relocated to Manchester, NH in 1995. Jim had many memorable experiences. He witnessed the historic detonation of the H Bomb in the Pacific at Eniwetok and celebrated the end of World War II in Times Square. In 1962 he served on a ship charged with the task of retrieving NASA’s first space capsule that orbited the earth. Sharing stories of his many travels around the world, telling about the exotic places and people he met gave Jim and his listeners great pleasure. Jim had a thirst for knowledge of people, places, and world affairs. He was a constant source of information and advice and took every opportunity to share his “words of wisdom”.
Jim was proud of his Irish heritage and was known for his “special” corned beef recipe featured at his annual St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. His kind and generous spirit touched many lives. James A. O’Halloran was the living essence of a true Irish gentleman and will be dearly missed.
A service was held at the Lambert Funeral Home, 1799 Elm Street, Manchester, NH. corner of North Street.
on Saturday June 17, 2006.
Burial was at the family cemetery in Amherst, Maine on Monday, June 19th 2006.
Those who wish, may make donations in his memory to The Epilepsy Foundation, PO Box 101705, Baltimore, MD 21298-8618: Red Cloud Indian School, 100 Mission Drive, Pine Ridge, South Dakota; or New Horizon Soup Kitchen 199 Manchester Street PO Box 691, Manchester, New Hampshire 03105