JAMES F. GAQUIN Jr.

1922 - 2021

GAQUIN, James F. Jr. First "GOOGLE" Of Golf, at 98 James F. Gaquin, Jr. of West Yarmouth, MA passed away peacefully on March 6, 2021. The only person to have served on the executive staff of the Professional Golfers' Association, US Golf Association, and Royal Canadian Golf Association, Jim ran the Cape Cod Open with his late wife, Lois, into his 90's, astounding everyone with his encyclopedic knowledge of golf and its adherents. Jim was born in Newton on May 10, 1922, the oldest of five children of James F. Gaquin and Kathryn Delaney Gaquin. Jim graduated from Newton High School in 1940 and Boston University in 1945, where he was on the golf and debate teams and served as an associate editor of the Boston University News. After BU, Jim became a sports reporter for the Waltham News-Tribune and a general reporter for the Worcester Telegram. Jim started his golf career in 1957, joining the PGA Tour as Field Press Secretary. Jim married Lois, who was working in public relations and promotion for Wilson Sporting Goods, in December 1959. They became a professional as well as personal team, working together in press relations and tournament management for more than fifty years. Jim served as the PGA's Tournament Manager, the first Executive Director of the Royal Canadian Golf Association, and the USGA's Tournament Relations Manager. In 1978, Jim and Lois became freelance tournament managers. In 1979, Jim received the Golf Writers Association of America's prestigious William D. Richardson Award for contributions to the game of golf, joining the ranks of prior honorees including Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus. Golf Digest called Jim "the best-informed man in the country on the facts and backgrounds of the touring professionals." Jim later joked that "I was Google." Jim retained his phenomenal memory for people and sports for the next sixty years, recalling minute details of golf tournaments, Boston sports teams' seasons, and the daily lives of family members and friends. In 1982, Jim and Lois moved to West Yarmouth and brought their tournament management expertise to the Cape Cod Pro-Am League. In 1992, they founded the Cape Cod Open and ran it and later the Cape Cod Senior Open until 2014, when Lois passed away. Jim continued to work on both tournaments until 2019. Jim's enthusiasm for golf and the people involved with it was surpassed only by his love for Lois and his siblings, nieces, nephews, and their children. Jim was perpetually upbeat, energetic, and optimistic. He never complained as his physical health declined, and remained sharp as a tack. Jim always saw the glass as at least half full and would encourage everyone to do the same. Jim is survived by his sisters Ruth Cunningham and Alice Kelley, both of Needham, and by his sister-in-law, Joanne Gaquin of Harwich. Jim was predeceased by his beloved wife, Lois; his brother, Thomas Gaquin; and his sister Mary Marchione. Jim is also survived by ten nieces and nephews. Jim's family would like to acknowledge the love and support provided to him by his caregivers at Mayflower Place Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in West Yarmouth and Beacon Hospice Care in Hyannis. A Mass in celebration of Jim's life will take place on Monday, March 15 at St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis at 11 am. Burial will be in the Gardens at Gethsemane Cemetery on Baker Street in West Roxbury at 2:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Jim's memory to the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund or the Carroll Center for the Blind.

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