James Richard DeGiacomo, formerly of Cohasset and Boston, passed away peacefully on January 12, 2022 at his home in Lenox surrounded by his family. Two recent life-changing events preceded his passing: the death of his beloved wife, Jeanne Marie (Cook) DeGiacomo in September 2020 and his retirement, at age 90, from the practice of law.

Jim was born in Boston on March 21, 1930 and was one of four children of Gaetano and Concetta (Bruno) DeGiacomo. Jim was the quintessential son of Italian immigrants: hardworking, humble, loyal and devoted to his family.

After graduating from Boston College in 1952 he joined the Marine Corps where he was a commissioned officer who served as a tank platoon commander in Korea. Before leaving for the service, he promised his mother that he would go to Mass whenever he could. While on leave in Tokyo, after attending Mass, he spotted a beautiful woman on the steps, Jeanne Marie, a foreign service diplomat at the Department of State, and invited her to brunch. That began their two-year courtship and sixty-six year marriage. Jim graduated from Georgetown Law Center in 1956 and started practicing law in Boston the following year. In 1963 he joined the firm later known as Roche, Carens and DeGiacomo which merged with Murtha Cullina, LLP in 2000.

Jim was committed to social justice and believed deeply in equality and opportunity for all. During his long legal career, he was a mentor to many and served as an inspiring example of the standards to which all attorneys should strive. He was a lawyer's lawyer who saw the law as a honorable profession, not as a business. He was a brilliant attorney who valued integrity above all else and concentrated his practice in civil and fiduciary litigation as well as family law. His skills were so respected that he frequently represented lawyers, judges and law firms. He was equally committed to the welfare and professional development of the bar as a teacher, leader and advocate. He always found time to help others including his students at the New England School of Law where he taught for over forty years and his colleagues as founding trustee and president of Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc., as chairman of the Board of Bar Overseers, as a director of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers and as a frequent lecturer. He was a member of the American College of Probate Counsel, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Jim was intellectually curious, a life-long learner, an avid reader of history and a lover of nature. For decades he enjoyed sailing his small boat out of the Cohasset Sailing Club where he was one of the original members. He and Jeanne Marie were world travelers often to some of the most exotic, and sometimes dangerous, destinations in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. They filled their lives with culture, attending lectures, joining book discussion groups and listening to the BSO concerts (sitting on his Marine Corps blanket) on the grounds at Tanglewood. Jim loved history, the law, the Marine Corps and his family who will always miss him.

He is survived by his brother Richard (Elaine) DeGiacomo of Palm City, Florida, Jim's four children: Mark (Lynne) DeGiacomo of Cohasset, Diane DeGiacomo (Jack Poore) of Lenox, Paul DeGiacomo (Montasser Kamal) of Ontario, Canada and Andrew DeGiacomo (Moises Ortiz) of Pittsfield; his four grandchildren Jimmy (Vienna) DeGiacomo of Marshfield, Emma Poore (Brian Bartlett) of Pittsfield, Samuel DeGiacomo of Lakeville, Connecticut and Blake (Bridget) Poore of Pittsfield; and his great grandchildren Dominic, Nate, Blake and Elizabeth.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, January 19, 2022 at 11:00 AM in Saint Anthony of Padua Church, 2 Summer Street, Cohasset. Relatives and friends are most kindly invited to attend. Interment with military honors will be held immediately following the mass in Cohasset Central Cemetery, where Jim will be laid to rest with his beloved wife, Jeanne Marie.

Visitation will be held privately.

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the family requests all in attendance for the services to observe CDC guidelines, including the wearing of masks and social distancing when possible.

Donations in Jim's memory may be made to the James R. DeGiacomo Scholarship Fund at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc., 10 Winter Place; Boston, MA 02108 - 4751 or online at www.mcle.org/give.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the McNamara-Sparrell Funeral Home, Cohasset, MA.

To sign an online guestbook, please visit www.mcnamara-sparrell.com.

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

Published by The Berkshire Eagle on Jan. 18, 2022.