James P. Hosty, Jr.

James P. Hosty, Jr., 86, of Punta Gorda, FL passed away Friday, June 10, 2011 at Kansas City Hospice House in Kansas City, Missouri from cancer. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m., Saturday, June 18, at St. Agnes Catholic Church, 5250 Mission Rd in Roeland Park, KS. Burial will be in Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Lenexa, KS. Visitation will be Friday, June 17, from 4-7 pm with a Rosary at 6:30 pm, at McGilley & Hoge Chapel, 8024 Santa Fe Dr., Overland Park, KS 66204. Memorial contributions may be made to Dominican Friars of Lubbock, in care of Fr. Robert Perry, 2305 Main St., Lubbock, TX 79401.

Jim Hosty was born to James P. Hosty and Irene (Ahern) Hosty on August 28, 1924, in Chicago, IL. Jim grew up in St. Luke’s Catholic parish in River Forest, IL and attended grade school there and later Fenwick High School. On October 31, 1942, Jim volunteered and enlisted in the US Army in the midst of World War II. Because of his high IQ scores, the Army sent Jim to a special program at Indiana University to study pre-engineering. But as the war escalated, the Army disbanded this program and Jim reported to Fort Campbell Kentucky in 1944 to join the 20th Armored Division and the 220th Armored Engineer Battalion. In February 1945, the 20th Armored Division landed in France, formed back up and moved to the front. The 20th Armored Division entered Germany in April 1945 and engaged in several combat operations. In their operations, the 20th Armored was part of the 7th Army that liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp where Hosty witnessed “walking human skeletons” and the remains of other victims. After the war, Jim enrolled at the University of Notre Dame where he graduated in 1948. Jim married Janet Perry on January 6, 1951, at St. Giles Catholic Church in Oak Park, IL. On January 21, 1952, Jim joined the FBI as a special agent. Stationed in Dallas and trained in counter-espionage techniques during the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, Jim was given the routine assignment of two security cases involving Lee Harvey Oswald and his wife Marina in October 1963. The objective of the investigation was to determine whether either Oswald or his wife posed a risk to national security. When Oswald was arrested on November 22, 1963 for the assassination of President Kennedy, Jim was summoned to participate in the interrogation of Oswald. It is believed that Jim’s notes from that interrogation are the only remaining notes and Jim’s notes are now in the National Archives. When President Lyndon Johnson ordered the FBI to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the assassination, Jim was assigned one of the lead roles in the investigation into Oswald and his background. Privy to a first-hand examination of all the evidence, Jim was always certain of his conviction that Oswald had indeed assassinated the president and had done so alone. In 1979, Jim retired from the FBI and then worked 10 years for the Kansas Department of Revenue. In 1989, Jim and Janet retired to Punta Gorda, FL. Jim and Janet had nine children. Jim was preceded in death by his beloved wife Janet and two of his sons, Bob and Mike (Debbie). Jim was also preceded in death by his parents and his sister Rita and brother Ed. Jim is survived by his other seven children, Jim (Vicki), Teri (Tom), Janet (Mark), Maureen, Dick, Tom (Julie) and Cathy (Tim), 22 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Jim is also survived by his sisters Mary Beth, Margie, Lori, and Helen. Please offer condolences at www.mcgilleyhogememorialchapel.com.