James William Finegan

James W Finegan, 89, passed away peacefully on March 19, 2023, surrounded by his children and wife, Kathy. He will be greatly missed.
Jim Finegan, as he was known, was born in Cleveland, Ohio on February 20, 1934, to James Joseph Finegan and Marie Livingston Finegan. His family moved to Dallas, Texas in 1939. Memorial services for Jim will be held in Dallas, TX on May 12 at 11AM at Christ the King Catholic Church and in Madisonville, TX at 11AM on May 15 at St Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church.
Jim grew up in Dallas and graduated from Loyola University New Orleans in 1955 and was commissioned to the Army Reserves as a Second Lieutenant that same year. He married Elizabeth Claudette Barbazon on December 1, 1956. Their son Jim and daughter Jane were born while Jim and Claudette were still in Dallas. He moved his family to west Texas during his early career with Mobil Oil, where his sons John and Joe and daughter Alice were born.
The family moved to Houston, Texas, in 1973. They found a family getaway resort in Hilltop Lakes, Texas in 1974. The family enjoyed many weekends and holidays with friends and extended family playing golf and other memorable activities from that time forward. Jim, being the avid golfer that he was, shared that passion with his children and friends.
With children getting older and moving out of the house, Jim moved his remaining family to Fairfield, Connecticut while he worked in New York City from 1980 until 1982, when he relocated again to Denver, Colorado. He moved from there for a project in Jakarta, Indonesia and to Dallas when his assignment was complete. From Dallas, he and Claudette moved to The Hague, Netherlands, where they remained until Jim’s retirement from Mobil Oil in 1992. Some of Jim’s best memories of his career were from The Hague.
Along the way he retired from the Army in 1986 as Colonel James W Finegan.
Jim’s retirement at Hilltop was long and happy. He remodeled his vacation house on 40 Golfview and it became the family home. He was a director of the Hilltop Lakes Property Owners Association and instrumental in the purchase of the retirement community by the POA from the developers in 1998. He worked with the Lyons Club, The Kickapoo Club, The Volunteer Fire Department, and multiple local Churches.
He entered the Catholic Deaconate program and was ordained in 2001.
After Claudette passed away in 2006, Jim continued to support the St Thomas More Catholic Church with much devotion and love. He was very involved in the Catholic Diocese of Tyler and instrumental in building the St Thomas More Chapel at Hilltop Lakes.
He and his friend, Kathryne Guillory became best friends and travel partners and eventually Jim was relieved of his Deaconate orders so that he could marry. Jim and Kathy Finegan were wed on April 23, 2017.
Jim and Kathy had a wonderful life together. They traveled often, never ran out of things to talk about, and Jim loved her cooking.
Jim was predeceased by his wife, Elizabeth Claudette Finegan in 2006 and his daughter Jane Elizabeth Finegan in 2011. He is also predeceased by his parents, James Joseph Finegan and Marie Livingston Finegan. He was predeceased by his brother, Bob Finegan, in 2017.
He is survived by his son Jim, his son John and his wife Suzanne, his son Joe and his wife Linnea, and his daughter Alice. He is also survived by his grandchildren Stephen, Elizabeth, Patrick, Carrie, Jimmy, and David. And four great grandchildren, Scarlett, Maelyn, Harper and Liam.
Jim is survived by his wife, Kathryne Finegan, married since 2017, and her children Debra, Christine and Mike and their families.
He is survived by his brother, Bill Finegan, and sister Ann Finegan.
Jim had many nieces and nephews, Linda, John (deceased), Elizabeth, Mary Alice, David, Jim, Joe, Dianne, Steve and their families, Doug, Steve, Diane, Nancy and their families, Steve, Jan and their families, Robert, Mike, Rick, Mark and their families.

Memorial services for Jim will be held in Dallas, TX on May 12 at 11AM at Christ the King Catholic Church and in Madisonville, TX at 11AM on May 15 at St Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church.