James CAIN

March 30, 1964 - June 2, 2025

Spokane - James Gerard "Cat" Cain was born in Richmond, CA, to Patricia Anne (Coady) and Joseph Gerard Cain, on March 30, 1964. He died suddenly at his home on Spokane's South Hill, June 2, 2025.

James grew up and spent most of his life in Spokane, graduating from North Central High School - where, for two years, he was the most feared and hated linebacker in the GSL - and Eastern Washington University. He worked hard throughout his life, beginning with delivering the Spokane Daily Chronicle in the gritty, rough-and-tumble Indian Trail neighborhood, and ending at Costco in Spokane Valley, where his culinary skills earned him both the callsign "Chickenman," and recognition by Rotisserie Magazine as "Top Chickenman in the PNW" (which came with Mariners season tickets and a lifetime subscription to the magazine; he narrowly lost the national title to the renown Bob "Big Bubba" Boudreau of Beauregard Parish, LA). He is reputed to have served in the French Foreign Legion, but he didn't talk much about those years (though they may have explained both his fluency in French and the Croix de Guerre he kept in a hallowed spot in the bathroom). In his later years, James learned to walk away from a fight, but he never ran from one.

James was predeceased by his dad, Gerry; most of his beloved aunts and uncles; and several cousins. He is survived by his mom, Pat; his aunts, Margaret Holubowich and Mary Frances Coady; uncle, Ed Holubowich; brothers, Mike, John, Martin, and Tim; sisters-in-law, Sue and Tricia Cain; nephews, Jacob, Colin, and Connor Cain; and many cousins and friends.

James loved golf, skiing, a nice glass of wine, and spending time with family and friends. He was a master of the English language and had a vivid, creative imagination (nomenclature he developed as a child for various parts of the human anatomy and nicknames he gave to people throughout his life captured the essence of said body parts and people and are still in wide use, here and abroad). He cared passionately for the "little people" of the world and always watched out for and protected them. He wasn't religious, but he loved the Lord deeply and always did his best to honor and serve him and his people. Like St. Ignatius, he believed that the goal of our lives is to live with God forever. He considered lack of faith and its offspring, greed, as the source of the world's ills. He thought kindness to be everyone's highest calling.

James' family would like to thank his supervisors at Costco for their consistent support and his nephew, Jacob, cousins, Chris and Joe Cain, and lifelong pal, Ron Birch, for the love and friendship they never failed to provide James.

James' funeral Mass will be concelebrated by his brother, Martin, and Father Tim Hays, at Assumption Church, 3624 W. Indian Trail Road, Spokane, at 11:00am, Saturday, June 7, with burial at Holy Cross Cemetery on Tuesday, June 10, also at 11:00am. All James' friends are warmly invited to both. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him.