James Sheehan

James J Sheehan passed away on February 2, after being subjected to a year of pitiful Chicago sports.

Born to Jim and Rita, he was the sixth of 16 children. (We’re pretty sure they only needed to pass each other in the hallway to have a kid.) He was raised in the Canaryville neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, sold newspapers in the Chicago Stockyard, served as an altar boy at St. Gabriel’s parish, and was as pure as the driven snow. (Snow/slush, potayto/potahto.)

Mary Ellen, Rita, Rich, Roberta, Pat, Jack, Tom, Frank, Gerald, Kathy, Dennis, Mike, Janet, Mary Terese and Kevin filllled that Canaryville home with love (and probably some strange smells). Some are still with us (the siblings, not the smells), and others look down from heaven.

A little Italian beauty from the North Side caught Jim’s eye at a Mundelein College dance one evening. He tried to charm her. She yawned. But after a few bad jokes and possible groveling, she gave in. With no car to speak of, he took a train and two buses up north as often as he could just to see her.

Carol – farsighted or possibly the loser of a bet – said “I do” to Jim in 1961. He soon served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam for more than a year. Upon his return, they started a family. Together they raised three loving daughters Mary (Steve), Michele (Buzz) and Maureen (Tom). On the doorstep one spring day, he also found a boy that looked half chicken, half chimp. Numerous attempts to pass him off to neighbors failed, so he kept Jimmy (Michelle) and gave him to his daughters in lieu of buying a hamster.

After years of testing his patience and making him threaten to pull the car over if they didn’t stop fighting, his children gifted him with 11 grandchildren who filled his heart more than words can ever describe: Tyler (Rebecca), Amanda, Max (Flori), Mason (Dione), Meaghan, Mariah (Eric), Aidan (Haley), Colin, Reganne, Devin and Ella. And most recently, his great-grandson Theodore. He never missed an opportunity to shower them with love and he supported them at everything – basketball and baseball, volleyball and track & field, figure skating and soccer, band concerts and dance recitals. He was an eager target of silly string attacks on more than one occasion too.

Jim spent countless years as a newspaper editor. When he wasn’t working or being a devoted husband and father, you’d find him hovering over a jigsaw puzzle, squinting at a crossword, “resting his eyes” during Bears games or turning the pages of a good book. Rumor has it, some of those books weren’t even connect the dots.

He enjoyed sports and his athletic prowess was undeniable. All you had to do was see him golf, play basketball or sprint out of the house due to the smell of his wife’s and daughters’ fresh perms back in the ‘80s. He loved dancing with his sweetheart, traveling abroad with her and long-time friends, and unwinding with a glass of Chianti or a Scotch Manhattan made by his all-time favorite bartender, his grandson Devin.

Husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, brother, godfather, friend and neighbor – he was many things to many people in his lifetime. No matter where he fit into yours, he was grateful to be a part of it. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Jim’s memory to, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital .

Visitation will be Friday, February 7, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 7211 W. Talcott Ave., Chicago, with Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m.  Private interment will take place at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery at a later date.  Info:  708-456-8300