James R McBratney

James R. McBratney, 49, of Upper Freehold Township passed away peacefully on Wednesday, August 9, 2023 after a courageous 5 year battle with cancer.  James, his wife Dawn and their daughter Alana are residents of Cream Ridge, NJ where they’ve lived since 2002.   

Born and raised in Elizabeth, James was a graduate of Elizabeth High School and earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Peter’s University.  James started his career working in the technology field for a bank in Newark where he and Dawn met in 1995.  They became fast friends and started dating a year later, engaged in 1998 and married in 1999.  The birth of their daughter Alana in 2008 was a blessed occasion. Those that experienced James with Alana could see that he was the best father ever and the two of them had grown to be two peas in a pod --- sharing the same wit, friendly sarcasm and love of fancy hi-tech gadgets. 

James spent a few years working at Merrill Lynch before making a complete career change away from financial services and into the motion picture industry where he’s been for over a decade and a half.  James worked as a set-dresser on Law-and-Order: SVU where he was affectionately named ‘Wall Street’ (an ode to his financial services background).  James really enjoyed his time at work where he made life-long friends, and shared stories of different occasions where he was rubbing elbows with the stars.   

James is survived by his loving wife of 24 years, Dawn McBratney; his beloved daughter, Alana; devoted parents, Raymond and Linda McBratney; adoring sister, Marcy McBratney and partner Joey Velez; loving aunts and uncle, Karen and Kevin Brink and Denise Bachofen; loving cousins, Kevin Brink and wife, Diana, Michelle Kolbeck and husband, Kevin, and Richie Bachofen; mother-in-law, Joan Walsh; father-in-law, James Smith Sr.; brother-in-law Jim Smith and wife, Kelly, sister-in-law, Samantha Rivera and husband, Dave and by many loving nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. James will also be greatly missed by the family pets - Jagger and Rosie. 

A viewing will be held from 2-4pm and 7-9pm on Monday August 14th at the Peppler Funeral Home, 114 So. Main St., Allentown, NJ.  Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, August 15th at 9:30 at St. Isidore Parish, Church of the Assumption, 28 Monmouth Rd. Wrightstown, NJ. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in James’ name to the V Foundation in support of cancer research at www.v.org