Search by Name

Add a Memory

Send Flowers

Make a Donation

Share Obituary

JAMES L. FOY M.D.

FUNERAL HOME

Francis J. Collins Funeral Home, Inc. - Silver Spring

500 University Blvd. West

Silver Spring, Maryland

JAMES FOY Obituary

DR. JAMES L. FOY, M.D. "Jim" (Age 88)
On Tuesday, July 15, 2014, of Kensington, MD. Beloved husband of the late Therese Maguire Foy; father of Stephen, Brian, Monica and Justine Foy. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Holy Redeemer Church, Summit Avenue and Cable Drive, Kensington, MD, on Saturday, July 19, 2014 at 1 p.m. Interment private. Memorial contributions may be made to Catholic Relief Services, 228 W. Lexington St., Baltimore, MD 21201.www.COLLINSFUNERALHOME.com

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Washington Post on Jul. 17, 2014.

Memories and Condolences
for JAMES FOY

12 Entries

John Clarke

July 19, 2014

I knew Jim to be a kind man, a fine poet, and a Chicago Irish catholic storyteller ready to tell his stories of New York and elsewhere to this grandnephew of P.J. Clarke's.

His appreciation of Chinese and Japanese art and poetry was amazing. His own poetry could be compared to that of the great Kenneth Rexroth.

What he says of Anton Chekhov in his poem "Turnpike Dreams" could easily apply to our feelings of gratefulness for Jim himself:

”Dr. Chekhov, I wish to express thanks
for your genius, stories, and humanity
down to your fingertips..."

Jim with parents and siblings in 1938.

Bernard Foy

July 18, 2014

Some years back, Jim retrieved this old photo and sent it to many of us. It captured the family of Frank and Juliette Foy in 1938, while vacationing at Bass Lake in Indiana. Jim was 12 years old, Peter (my father) was three, and Pat was eleven. They drove 85 miles down from Chicago to spend the summer fishing and swimming. Jim remarked that it was among his fondest childhood memories. Jim's passing marks the final chapter for this happy family. I will treasure Jim's essay, "Frank Foy: a 20th Century Life," completed several years ago, in which he vividly described life in that era and his father's coming of age.
I was fortunate enough to be able to spend an evening with Jim in his final year. We talked about Ireland and genealogy into the late hours. Jim was as enthusiastic about his roots at age 88 as he was in his medical school years when he first visited. He was a kind and intelligent soul, and he made us all better human beings.

July 18, 2014

Eric Goranson, MD

July 17, 2014

Jim probably saved my life. He was the first psychiatrist that I saw when I was so depressed I couldn't write. He introduced me to William Carlos Williams (another life saver), & John tBerger's "A Fortunate Man", which led me to John Eskell MD the subject of that book, with whom I also developed a warm relationship. But most of all, Jim was a guide, being a father-figure in the most exquisite and appropriate way for all the years after our therapy ended, engaging me in a response of quatrains in the ancient Chinese traditio, which he kindly had published privately. He has been an inspiration to me as a psychiatrist, as a fellow poet and as an exemplar of the best of our humanity, our profession. I have only the vaguest idea of the others whose lives he has touched, but he has touched mine in deep and powerful ways. One day, long ago, he took me to see the St Gaudens statue on the grave of Clover Adams, wife of Henry Adams. That statue, often titled "Grief", riveted me then, and now it speaks to the great sorrow I have at this loss. Agnus dei qui tollis peccati mundi. Requiescat in pace, my dear friend.

fergus barnes

July 17, 2014

i will always miss jim,my irish brother

Maryland, year 2012

Justine Foy

July 17, 2014

Sharing Poetry

Peggy Heller

July 17, 2014

Dear Friend—who shared his love of family, friends, art, and words so generously—your poetry, an eloquent legacy, lives on inspiring and delighting us. I am deeply grateful to have known you.

Kensington, Maryland June 2012

July 17, 2014

I have great memories of Uncle Jim, one was back in the summer of 1966 when our family drove our station wagon to Kensington from Downers Grove IL. He was making a corn stock out of newspapers and he would make the damn thing grow and grow and grow until it was well over 12' tall! What an amazing trick to see when your 10 years old.
My last memory was celebrating his 86th birthday with Steve and Justine, twas a great evening.
RIP Uncle Bim.

Dennis and Susan Ring, San Francisco, California

July 17, 2014

Dear Cousins,
Know that all of us are thinking of you during this tough time. I will always cherish the knowledge and beauty Jim shared with me through our family history lessons. Love, Sarah

Dorothy and John Yanik

July 17, 2014

Jim, I will always remember you! You were very important to me in my life.
John and I will miss you very much.

Brookside Gardens 6-12-13

Stephen Foy

July 17, 2014

Jim at Georgetown in 1969.

Steve Rojcewicz

July 17, 2014

Jim has been an inspiration for me since the 1960s at Georgetown Medical School, his scholarship and advocacy for the humanities becoming my professional model. I fondly remember his inviting Mary and myself for Thanksgiving Dinner soon after we were married, when we knew few couples in this area. Gracious and generous throughout his life, he was a grand man.

Showing 1 - 12 of 12 results