Plan for the Future
James J. Maguire, Sr., longtime resident of Short Hills, N.J. and Monmouth Beach, N.J. passed away peacefully at home on Monday, August 21st, 2017.
Jim was born to Frances and Frank Maguire in South Orange, N.J. on October 13th, 1930. The middle of nine children, he received his first Sacraments at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, South Orange, and graduated from Seton Hall Prep High School. He served his country honorably as a corporal in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Jim began his Wall St. career on Sept 12th, 1949 and proceeded to exhibit a work ethic that went beyond the extraordinary. He earned an undisputed reputation for honesty, integrity, and genuine concern for others. While working as a specialist on the American Stock Exchange, he co-founded Dyer, Maguire, Dritz & Co. and was elected Vice-Chairman of the Exchange. In December of 1971, he moved to the New York Stock Exchange specialist firm Henderson Brothers, Inc. and eventually became the firm’s Chairman and CEO. In 1988, Warren Buffett hand-picked Jim to serve as the NYSE specialist for Berkshire Hathaway stock. Buffett later dubbed Jim “The World’s Greatest Specialist” at a Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. Henderson Brothers was sold to LaBranche and Co. in March of 2000, but Jim continued working on the floor, commentating for financial television, and lecturing at Fordham Graduate School of Business until health issues prompted his retirement in October of 2012.
Jim was a member of Canoe Brook Country Club, Rumson Country Club and the Monmouth Beach Bath and Tennis Club. His great love of the beach club can be attributed to the comforting presence of a multitude of family members and friends who became like family. In his youth, he worked as an umbrella boy at the Club. He eventually served for many years on the Club’s Board of Trustees and was Club President. He is fondly remembered for the baseball games he organized on the beach each weekend. Jim’s strong, unwavering faith led him to serve on parish councils at St. Rose of Lima Church, Short Hills, and Our Lady of Victory Church in Wall Street’s financial district. He was also a member of Precious Blood Parish, Monmouth Beach. Jim’s three sons and twelve of his grandsons attended Delbarton School in Morristown. Last October, he was inducted into Delbarton’s Hall of Honor in recognition of his years of dedication to the monks of St. Mary’s Abbey.
Jim will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 56 years, Diane, his six children; James Jr. (Teresa) of Little Silver NJ, Liz Mead (Malcolm) of Harding Township NJ, Michael (Suzanne) of Madison NJ, Regina Fernicola (Patrick) of Fortson GA., Paul of Madison NJ, Mary Grubert (Michael) of Rumson NJ and his twenty-two grandchildren. He was pre-deceased by his daughter-in-law, Coleen Maguire, in February of 2015. He is survived by his sisters Mary Fran Carey, Kathy Tierney, Regina McDonald and brothers Frank and Paul Maguire. He was pre-deceased by sisters Ann McDonough, Winifred Schubert, and Clair Byrne.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 23rd from 3 pm until 8 pm at Bradley Smith & Smith Funeral Home, 415 Morris Ave., Springfield, N.J. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 A.M. on Thursday, August 24th at St. Mary’s Abbey, Delbarton, Morristown, N.J.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be made in his memory to St. Mary’s Abbey Delbarton, Morristown, N.J.