James F. EAGAN

EAGAN - James F. June 18, 2017, age 72. Jim is survived by his first mate of 48 years, Gayle L. (nee; Vaillancourt) and their children Kelly Eagan, Monica Richards, James Eagan and Patrick Eagan. He was the devoted son of the late Gertrude and Edward Eagan, PhD, and adored son-in-law of the late Gerald and Philomena Vaillancourt. Jim, along with his siblings, Michael (Marjorie), Mary Alice (Joseph) Tocke and Eileen Eagan, PhD, was born and raised in South Buffalo, and was a graduate of Timon High School and Canisius College. It was in a row of cottages in Crystal Beach, Ontario, that Jim spent summers with his mother's Geiger sisters and spouses, and where he and his siblings boated and swam with his Stievater cousins. Later, Jim and Gayle gathered there with their own family, including son-in-law, Rowland Richards, III, and daughter-in-law, Hon. Susan Eagan, and grandchildren, Michael (Amy) and Krista Severino, James Reilly and Kathryn Eagan and Rowland, Henry and Jack Richards. Jim is also survived by three great-grandchildren, his dear nieces and nephews and many wonderful friends. The same Crystal Beach cottage to which Jim was brought home when he was born, was also where he died, on Father's Day, having spent a perfect weekend with his family and friends, which included Jim and Gayle's first sail of the season. Jim was a veteran of the United States Army, a lifelong member and Past Commodore of the Buffalo Canoe Club, a retired Buffalo Public School teacher, who taught at Grover Cleveland and Burgard High Schools, and a Vice President at Gurney, Becker & Bourne, where he worked alongside his son Patrick. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in honor of Jim's active volunteer duties to Canopy of Neighbors, Inc., www.canopyofneighbors.org, an entity founded by Gayle and others to create new pathways to aging well and aging independently in community. Family and friends are invited to call at the JOHN E. ROBERTS FUNERAL HOME (Amherst Chapel), 280 Grover Cleveland Hwy at N. Bailey on Friday June 23 from 3-7 PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in Blessed Trinity Church, 317 Leroy Ave., Buffalo, on Saturday at 10 AM. Arrangements by VANDERCHER & DICK FUNERAL HOME.