James Robert MacFarlane Jr.
January 19, 1951 - April 27, 2020
Irvine CA
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James Robert MacFarlane Jr.
January 19, 1951 - April 27, 2020
Irvine CA
Obituary
James R. MacFarlane (Jim), 69, known by family and friends as “Sandy”, passed away peacefully at home from natural causes in Irvine, CA on Monday, April 27, 2020, with his daughter by his side.
Jim was born in Detroit, MI on January 19, 1951, to Bob and Mary MacFarlane (both deceased). He grew up in Detroit with his brother Rick, spending summers in Sand Lake at his grandparents’ home and a lot of time at Tiger Stadium where their uncle played the organ for many years. He developed a love for baseball that lead to a life-long hobby of playing softball well into his senior years. Jim played on many different leagues including traveling leagues, tournaments and ending his career on his favorite senior team “git-r-done”!! He graduated from Osborn High School in Detroit in 1969.
One of the first cars he bought was a Barracuda, which was his favorite and he also loved riding motorcycles. His first job was working midnights as a stock boy at a grocery store in Detroit and retired in 2019 as a Computer Network Engineer in California.
Jim is survived by his ex-wife, Jeanne, daughter Shannon MacFarlane (grandchildren Jacob and Siovhan), son Travis MacFarlane and wife Megan, and daughter Sarah and husband Travis Smith. Jim is also survived by his brother Rick MacFarlane and wife Teresa and half-sister Heather. He was predeceased by his half-brother Bruce.
A private visitation is being held on Sunday, May 3, 2020, for immediate family only. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation (https://online.crohnscolitisfoundation.org) in support of Crohn’s Disease, which Jim battled for 50 years.
13 responses to James Robert MacFarlane Jr.
Jon Barrist says:
May 2, 2020
I am so sorry for your loss. I have known Jim, Shannon and mom for probably close to 15 years. I hope he is at peace now. My condolences to the entire family.
Rick & Theresa MacFarlane says:
May 2, 2020
Dear Jeanne and Family,
Thank you for your consideration in reaching out to us and letting us know that we were included in Jim’s visitation. It means a great deal to us. I am so sorry that it didn’t work out for us to come be with you for your send-off for Jim/your dad/grandpa. While we both are relieved that all suffering and physical limitations are over for him and believe he is now at peace, we also know that each death changes the family a bit. We know he will be deeply missed and you will have a hole in your hearts. It is our hope that warm comforting memories (or even silly ones) will fill that longing and replace your tears with smiles in due time.
My memories of Jim are mostly in relationship to his brother, my husband. I really liked seeing the two of them together. It didn’t happen often but when they did get together, they picked up like they had just talked to one another the day before and in some cases I am sure it had been a year or more! I loved to hear their laughter and see their eyes crinkle at the silliest stories.
In some ways they are very different people so you would not guess they had been raised together and yet, in other ways they are so similar it is uncanny. They laugh at the same weird stuff and horrible jokes & puns. They are avid readers. They have horrible diets. They understood things in a certain way that makes no sense to me. They seem to disregard all proper convention and protocol but hold sacred a number of random rules they learned from God-knows-who like there was a secret code book issued to just their family. They can be rather elusive and just when you think they reside only in the shallow end of the pool, they say or do something from The Deep End just to throw you off.
In my 45 + years of observing these guys, I find the greatest common denominator to be their joy at becoming dads and grandpas. They seem to revel in their children and grandchildren. Their pride is undeniable. I suspect not having a dad around and losing both grandpas at such an early age made this rite of passage an unexpected joy and surprise for them both.
That’s my story to share. I hope it is the tribute Jim would like. And tomorrow, while you are all gathered tomorrow please know that it is very likely that your uncle will be driving to someplace peaceful, most likely the Detroit River, with a cold Pepsi in hand, to say goodbye to Jim in his own way which hopefully will not include a weird joke or limerick. Although, when I told him the other day that the Golden Girls (our pet name for Speedy, Mary & Diddy) are likely doing the happy dance to see Jim again, he nodded and said for you all to pass along to Jim that he is to tell the Golden Girls that Rick can wait awhile for his reunion. (again, the shallow end)
Our thoughts and prayers are with you all for some strong family bonding time and safe travels. If you ever find yourselves together in Michigan, please do call us and perhaps we can get together for The Jim (Sandy) MacFarlane Memorial Sequel. (I think he would love a sequel, personally. ) And Jeanne, please do not worry so much about finding a remembrance for Rick. I think having Jim meet us at the Coronado Hotel for lunch along with Shannon two years ago when we where there for Rick’s conference is a very lasting memory for both of us.
Love,
Theresa/Aunt Theresa
Ed Gestine says:
May 4, 2020
I was one of Jimmy’s teammates on three different teams with him and got to know him well.
He loved the game and brought his sense of dry humor that usually had everybody chuckling throughout the game and extending into the tailgating meeting arrests.
He will be missed.
Fast Eddie Gestine
Ed Gestine says:
May 4, 2020
Darn intuitive typing, please delete the word “arrests”, Jimmy’s humor was always clean and we were never arrested while tailgating.£
Mike Dunn says:
May 4, 2020
My dear good friend who traveled with me to many softball tournaments, we also played together as team mates in Fountain Valley, Huntingtong Beach and Long Beach. God Bless you my great friend. Mike Dunn