James M. Dinan

James Michael "Jim" Dinan, 90, passed away on Monday, June 12, 2017 at New London Hospital in New London, New Hampshire, after a brief illness. He departed this earth peacefully surrounded by family and cradled in God's embrace.



A native New Yorker, Jim moved to New London in 1996. He was born on May 6, 1927 in New York City, the eldest son of Ada Therese Duhamel and Michael James Dinan of Irvington, New York. Despite growing up during the Depression, Jim's childhood was comfortably modest. His father was the longstanding custodian of Irvington's Town Hall. His mother, a seamstress, created wardrobes for the gilded families along the lower Hudson River Valley and celebrities of the day. He attended the Immaculate Conception School through eighth grade and graduated from Irvington's Public High School in 1944. Three years later, he married his high school sweetheart, Josephine Otivich, who lived in nearby Pennybridge.



Drafted into the army at the end of WW II, Jim entered the civilian world as a physical therapy technician in West Point's athletic department. Upon his discharge, he and Josephine moved back to Irvington where Jim took a job in the mailroom of the Central States Paper & Bag Company. His wit and charm could not be contained to a mailroom; he was quickly promoted to a sales position. Throughout the tri-state region, he sold thousands if not millions of items-shrink-wrap bags to duck farmers on Long Island, brown and waxed paper to butchers, and plastic bags for pre-packaged vegetables to supermarkets like A&P, Gristede's, and D'Agostino. With the support of his wife, Jim launched his own point-of-purchase advertising company, aptly named Dinaco Inc., in the late 1960s. His major and most loyal clients were in the oil industries. Over time, Dinaco opened a branch office in Houston, Texas and enjoyed tremendous success until the company's closing after Jim's retirement in the early 2000s. A substantial number of acquaintances initially made through Dinaco transcended a business transaction and developed into close, personal friendships.



Alongside his busy professional career, Jim made time for community involvement. He was, at heart, a small town boy who had made good and was committed to giving back. Jim and Jo made a habit of befriending all parish priests, not only by inviting them to family dinners and outings but by committing time and resources to their initiatives. After a fire destroyed Immaculate Conception's 19thcentury stone church in 1972, Jim-a former altar boy-purchased the useless structure and adjoining ageing rectory so the parish would have enough money to rebuild. He served as chairman of Irvington's 1976 Bicentennial Celebration, organizing committees, fundraising, and hosting events over a two-year period. When he learned that Kraus's Meat Market on Main Street in Irvington faced an uncertain future, Jim stepped in to save the site of his first job-George and Otto Kraus had hired then 12-year old Jim as a delivery boy soon after his father died. Jim also tried his hand in local real estate development, but found out how fickle that could be. Riverhouse condominiums at 27 North Buckhout Street was a success story, but a plan to build affordable housing units on another property was not.



Last but not least, Jim's favorite hobbies-golf and horse-racing. It would be safe to say that Jim enjoyed the social aspects of golf slightly more than its technical challenges. As a young man, he would drive with friends at 5:00 am to clinch a good tee time at the free public course in Baird State Park, Dutchess County, NY. In later years, Jim had become a member-in-good-standing at the Ardsley Country Club, one who rarely missed the "19th hole" and annual overseas golf trips with a group of friends, affectionately known as the "Rover Boys." He first dabbled with horse-racing by joining a syndicate but soon took the big leap with his own purchases. As luck would have it, Jim's first horse, Tale of the Cat, was also his most successful. Jo shared her husband's horse-racing enthusiasm. Together they traveled to dozens of racing's best-known tracks like Saratoga, Belmont, Monmouth Park, and Churchill Downs. Jim took enormous pleasure in naming the newest members of the Dinan stable of horses. Although lacking a college degree, he was a careful student of the racing form. No one could pick a trifecta like Jim. He was one lucky guy.



He balanced charm with directness. We will miss his humor, his wit, his joie de vivre. Jim is survived by his wife of almost seventy years, Josephine, his brother Paul Dinan of Westfield, New Jersey, and five children: Susan Greenblatt of Salem, Massachusetts, Michelle Dinan of LaGrangeville, New York, Jacqueline Dinan of Brooklyn, New York, Janine Musto of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and James Dinan Jr. of Sealy, Texas. His legacy continues with thirteen grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. His memory endures with countless friends formed over a lifetime.



A closed-casket wake will be held at the Chadwick Funeral Home, 235 Main Street, New London on Monday, June 19th from 5:00–7:00 p.m. A funeral mass will take place at Immaculate Conception Church (Potter Place), 2 Church Lane, Andover on Tuesday, June 20th at 10:00 a.m. A graveside committal service will immediately follow at Elkins Cemetery, 242 Old Route 11, Elkins.



In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the KLS Community Food Pantry, P.O. Box 536, New London, NH 03257.