James McAuliffe

James (Jim) Edward McAuliffe was born in Coulee City, Washington on December 25, 1935 and passed away on October 5, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. Jim was the second-oldest of five children born to Eugene and Sally McAuliffe. Jim was proud to have been raised in Seattle, where he graduated from O’Dea High School and later earned his Master’s degree in Education from Seattle University.

Jim was married for 35 years to Barbara McAuliffe who predeceased him. He is survived by his second wife of 35 years, Jill McAuliffe, and his 9 children: Robert, Joanne, Karen, Michael, John, Daniel, Richard, Mark, and Regine. Along with his 19 grandchildren, Jim also had 10 great-grandchildren.

Jim dedicated his life to education and community service. He devoted 27 years to the Seattle Public school system, teaching, supervising, and specializing in bringing struggling schools into thriving places where kids were eager to learn. Jim continued this positive trend for seven more years as the Headmaster of the Villa Academy in Laurelhurst. He then took his talents and headed to Yokohama, Japan as elementary school principal at St. Joseph’s International School for almost three years.

Living in Japan gave Jim and his wife Jill the opportunity to travel to many near Asian countries including Thailand, China and Indonesia. On their return to the US and with a love for cooking, they began to volunteer – preparing and serving breakfast at Boomtown Café in Pioneer Square as well as working once a week at St. James Cathedral Kitchen, which grew into an unplanned full-time job for Jim as co-director of the kitchen. In the course of a decade, he, assisted by many volunteers, gleaned. prepared and served thousands of meals to those in need in the downtown Seattle area. Jim’s unique sense of humor, sarcasm, and charismatic ways welcomed those who may have been otherwise reluctant to accept help from others.

Jim was well-loved by the community he served, always drawn to give to those who had nothing. It was difficult to walk anywhere in the downtown area without someone recognizing him and yelling out, “Jim!” He was an outstanding husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather and will be cherished by all those who had the honor of knowing him.

A funeral mass will take place at St. James Cathedral, 804 Ninth Ave. Seattle, Washington, on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at 12:10pm. A reception will follow. Remembrances can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or St. James Cathedral Kitchen.