Obituary for James D. Foley

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Life Story for James D. Foley

James D. Foley, 77, husband of the late Patricia (Murphy), died Saturday, January 18, 2014 in his home. Born April 4, 1936 in Keel, Castlemaine, Kerry, Ireland, son of the late Daniel J. and Ellen (Flynn) Foley, Jim lived in San Diego for 36 years. Prior to settling in California, he immigrated to New York in 1957, lived in Connecticut for several years and worked in 43 states as a foreman, teacher and nuclear welder with Bechtel. Recruited to the U.S. to play Gaelic football, Jim played for several teams across the country over his long and storied career, including one day that featured him in three games for three teams in three states. A well- regarded member of the all-star New York squad, he traveled the world playing exhibition Gaelic and Australian Rules games with the team in 1964 after their unprecedented National League win over Dublin. They won again in 1967, besting three-in-a-row All-Ireland champions Galway in the National League Final in New York. Speaking about players of the era, teammate Kenny Finn later remarked, "You always knew you were in a game with Jim Foley; he always came to play." In San Diego, Jim was an avid golfer and handball player and he supported various local Gaelic Athletic Association teams through the years, while always cheering his beloved Kerry team in Ireland. He and his wife Pat opened the Blarney Stone Pub in Clairemont in 1978 and due to their dedicated work and disarmingly genuine hospitality notable for award-winning Irish coffee, terrific live music, friendly staff and lively political blarney, the pub quickly became home to the county's growing Irish community. A group of Irish-Americans who had been working on starting a St. Patrick's Day parade in San Diego soon found Jim and learned that he had been instrumental in starting the parade in Hartford, CT. He went right to work with them and founded the Irish Congress of Southern California with the express purpose of staging each year's event. Now in its 34th year, the San Diego St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival hosts tens of thousands of revelers and more than 120 parade participants annually with an all-volunteer staff. Jim sold the pub in 2000, continuing to enjoy the camaraderie of the community he helped to build in his retirement. Jim is survived in San Diego by his daughter, Siobhan Foley and her husband Jeff Lytle, and his niece, Mary Frances Stanton and her daughter Kara; in Connecticut by two brothers, John Foley and his wife Anne of Manchester, and Michael Foley and his wife Patricia of Niantic, and two sisters, Mary Traynor of Enfield, Ellen (Nell) Hosey and her husband John of West Hartford; and in Ireland by his brother Timothy Foley and his wife Julie and his sister Bridget Kelliher. His sister, Catherine and his four brothers, Thomas, Patrick, Jeremiah and Daniel, predeceased him. The family extends deepest thanks to the intensive care unit teams at Scripps Memorial in La Jolla, Scripps Hospice and caregivers at A Better Solution in Home Care. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Irish Congress of Southern California, 415 Laurel St. PMB 113, San Diego, CA 92101 or the San Diego Youth Gaelic Athletic Association at http://www.sdygaa.com/. Dedicated to his family and generous to friends new and old, Jim will be greatly missed: Here in San Diego, we shall never see his like again.