Jim Leahy

James Patrick Leahy was born January 12, 1947, in South Bend, Ind., the fifth of eight children of Florence (Reilly) and Frank Leahy, the legendary football coach at Notre Dame. Jim grew up in South Bend and Michigan City, Ind., at the height of his father’s Fighting Irish coaching career. Notre Dame won national championships in 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949 and was voted No. 2 in 1948, going undefeated the final four years. Frank’s team won the first National Championship in 1943 before he left to serve in the Navy for two years during the war.

In January of 1954, when Jim was seven years old, Frank retired with a 13-year career coaching record of 107-13-9, including 87-11-9 at Notre Dame and 20-2 at Boston College. His overall winning percentage of .864 is second in college football history only to Knute Rockne’s .881.

In 1960, Frank moved the family to California to become the first general manager of the Los Angeles Chargers of the new American Football League. Other business opportunities led Frank to Denver and then to Lake Oswego, Ore., in 1964.

Jim played high school football and wrestled at four different schools — as a freshman in Michigan City, as a sophomore in El Cajon, Calif., as a junior in Denver, and as a senior in Lake Oswego. As an offensive lineman, he was named to the Colorado Catholic All-State first team and earned all-league honors at Lake Oswego.

Jim arrived in Lake Oswego his senior year and met Nancy Holden on his first day in school. She was a student leader who took him on a tour of the school. They graduated in the Class of 1965 before going off to college, Jim to Notre Dame and Nancy to the University of Oregon. Two years later, Nancy transferred to Purdue, 132 miles from Notre Dame, for her junior and senior years. Jim and Nancy were married August 2, 1969, at Our Lady of the Lake in Lake Oswego.

When Jim went to college, Frank advised him to go somewhere else if he wanted to play college football, telling him he was “too small (at 6-1, 235) and too slow” to play at Notre Dame. That was advice Jim was never going to take.

Jim was an offensive lineman on Fighting Irish teams coached by Ara Parseghian. In Jim’s four years there (1965-68), Notre Dame lost just six games, going undefeated (9-0-1) and winning the national championship in 1966. Thirty-two players from that team went into professional football. Last September Jim and Nancy returned to South Bend for the 50th-anniversary celebration of that championship and for a reunion with the accomplished team members who were a source of pride for Jim all of his life.

Jim got special recognition in his father’s biography, “Shake Down the Thunder,” from Notre Dame athletic director Moose Krause. “I don’t think there ever was a more amiable, hard-working kid on the Notre Dame football team than Jimmy Leahy,” Krause said. “He knew he was out of his league, but he wasn’t going to admit it. He wanted to prove to his father that he could hang in there at Notre Dame. For four years, he never missed a practice."

Jim was one of three successive generations of Leahys on Fighting Irish football teams. Frank was a tackle under Rockne (1928-30) and son Ryan was a guard and two-time captain under Lou Holtz (1992-95). Son Pat was also a scholarship athlete and monogram winner at Notre Dame, as a baseball pitcher, and daughter Regan received her monogram at the University of North Carolina on a track and field scholarship.

In 1969, Jim began a 38-year career as a corrugated container salesman in Walla Walla, Wash. His first 23 years were with Boise Cascade, a job that took them to the Tri-Cities and then to Yakima in 1980. He later worked in Phoenix and Denver before moving back to Yakima. The three Leahy children were born in the Tri-Cities.

Jim's favorite involvement in life was with his kids’ sports activities. He coached YMCA basketball with Ryan and for four years with Regan. He coached Little League baseball with Pat and Ryan. He served on the Grid Kids board of directors for four years and was a member of the Yakima Monday Morning Quarterback Club from 1980 until his death, serving as president in 1985. He dedicated his life to helping kids, counting the kids he helped with pride.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents, brother Frank II and sister Florence.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Nancy of Yakima, sons Patrick of Yakima and Ryan (Becky) of Wilmette, Ill., daughter Regan (Sam) Boye of Morton Grove, Ill., grandchildren McKensie and JohnPatrick of Yakima, Reese and Reilly of Wilmette, and Sam III (Trey) and Declan of Morton Grove, sisters Suzanne (Deno) Moustakas of Illinois and Mary Leahy of Colorado, brothers Jerry Leahy of Hawaii, Fred (Patti) Leahy of Arizona and Christopher (Kathy) Leahy of Portland, mother-in-law Jacqueline Holden of Tigard, Ore., and twenty-one nieces and nephews.

A Prayer Vigil will take place at 6 p.m., Thursday, March 16, at Holy Family Catholic Church. The memorial service will be held Friday, March 17, at 1:30 p.m.at Holy Family, with private burial to follow on a later date at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Portland, Ore. Keith and Keith Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Guest are encouraged to wear Irish green or Notre Dame blue and gold in memory of Jim's loyalties.

Contributions in memory of Jim may be made to University of Notre Dame Early Childhood Development Center at Notre Dame, Ind., 46556 (on the corner of Frank Leahy Drive and Bulla Road) , Sunnyside Community Hospital Foundation, and Parker Youth & Sports Foundation.

The family extends appreciation to Jim's dedicated Yakima Memorial medical team and physical therapist Michael Kane, who helped Jim sustain his mobility the past few years. Gratitude is also given to the caring professionals at Cottage in the Meadow during his final days.