James T Seigfreid

JAMES T. SEIGFREID, 83, passed peacefully on April 1, 2015 in the loving company of his wife and family. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, April 7, at 11:00 a.m. at Visitation Catholic Church, 5141 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64112. The family will receive friends beginning at 9:30 a.m. at Visitation. A luncheon reception following the mass will be held at the home of Susan and John Crowe. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to Rockhurst High School, 9301 State Line Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64114 or Visitation Parish.

Jim was born to Ira and Irene Seigfreid on November 5, 1931 in Kansas City, Missouri. He spent his childhood in Lee's Summit, Missouri. Jim attended Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, where he lettered in Varsity football. He then attended the University of Missouri and Georgetown University receiving a B.A. from the University of Missouri in 1953. He was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Jim attended law school at the University of Michigan and received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri in 1955. That same year Jim entered the Judge Advocate General's Office of the U.S. Air Force, serving proudly as a First Lieutenant until his honorable discharge in 1957.

Jim was an accomplished attorney and civic leader. His passion as a lawyer was to serve his clients and build a law firm of the highest caliber and ideals with his friends, Bill Burrell and Larry Bingham. In 1975 he, together with his colleagues, founded the law firm of Burrell, Seigfreid & Bingham, now known as Seigfreid Bingham, P.C. Jim was past chairman and managing director of the law firm.

In the civic arena, Jim served as past director and secretary of the Kansas City Chiefs Football Club, Inc., Hunt Midwest Enterprises, Inc. and the Chiefs Children's Fund. He was a member of the Board of Directors and past chairman of Health Midwest Research Medical Center and The Research Foundation. He is past director and past president of Missouri Transportation & Development Council, and past chairman of Missouri's Federal Transportation Alliance. In 2005, he was recognized by the Missouri Bar Association for 50 years of service as a practicing attorney and member of the Missouri Bar Association.

Jim was deeply spiritual and committed to the Catholic Church. He served as director and past president of the Board of Catholic Charities of Kansas City/St. Joseph, Inc. and as chairman of the Diocesan Central City School Fund. Jim was a Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. He was a lifelong member of St. Peter's and Visitation Catholic churches and an honorary director of Rockhurst University. He received the Sullivan Award in 1996, presented each year by Catholic Charities to honor individuals who have contributed outstanding service to the ministry of the diocese.

Jim was an active member of many fraternal associations and clubs throughout his life, taking leadership positions in each without exception. He was a member of the Mission Hills Country Club, the Walloon Lake Country Club, and the Kansas City Club, where he was a past president. Upon retirement, Jim moved to Naples, Florida, where he lived in the Bear's Paw community. Jim was very active in the community and was a past president of the Bear's Paw Country Club.

Jim is welcomed into heaven by his parents Ira and Irene Seigfreid, brother Jerome Seigfreid, wife Donna Seigfreid, and sons Stephen Lee Seigfreid and Mark Welling Seigfreid. He will be dearly missed by his surviving wife Jean, and his children and their spouses Tom and Stephanie Seigfreid and Susan and John Crowe. His grandchildren, JT and Sophie Seigfreid, and Jack, Henry, Grace and Martin Crowe will always remember their "Papa" with great love and affection. Everyone who knew Jim will remember his welcoming smile and gregarious nature. He was a friend to all, inspiring the people who knew him with his love of family, passion for service to others, and care of those less fortunate.

"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality; the last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor." Max DePree: Leadership is an Art.