James Cawley

James W. Cawley of Red Bank NJ passed away on September 5, 2025 at age 86, with his family by his side.

Jim was born in Philadelphia PA, son of John and Joan Cawley, and grew up in northern NJ where he was a standout high school track athlete, winning frequent accolades running the mile. A proud former Army Paratrooper, he had an encyclopedic knowledge of military history, which remained a lifelong interest.

Jim married his loving wife Anne in April 1968 at St. Patrick's Church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. In a life together that took them from Brooklyn to Cleveland to New Jersey, Jim and Anne loved family time, evenings spent around the dinner table, and warm weather travel.

In Jim's home, every inch of available shelf space features pictures of his beloved grandchildren: Samantha, Owen, Jackson, Patrick, Brian and Kevin – the children of his son Tim and daughter-in-law Victoria, and his daughter Karen Mitchell and son-in-law Michael.

Some of his happiest times involved getting together with his surviving brothers Jack and Jerry, telling animated stories of yesteryear, enjoying a frosty beverage, and laughing loudly.

A born salesman, Jim had a lengthy career in the chemical industry, working for Union 76, Kramer Chemicals and, later in life, as a Global Sourcing Executive for Tilly Chemicals. Basically, if you wanted to know the merits of corn-based ethanol or nuances of shipping interstate tankwagons, Jim was your man.

And as he's looking down on us now, proofreading this synopsis of his life, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that - even into his mid-80's - Jim could easily curl two 20-pound dumbbells ten times – a fact that he would slip into any reasonably applicable conversation.

A memorial mass in Jim's honor will be held 10:15am, Thursday, September 11 at St Leo the Great Church at 550 Newman Springs Rd in Lincroft, where he was a decades-long parishioner.