James "Jim" Irwin McAllister Jr.

James “Jim” Irwin McAllister, Jr., age 71 of Mansfield, passed away peacefully on August 16, 2019 with his loving family at his side. He was born on October 3, 1947 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of James Irwin McAllister and Lorraine Claire Hartung McAllister. Jim married Diane Cogswell on October 28, 1995 and they celebrated 24 wonderful years together.

Jim’s professional work as a consultant to multinational companies took him all over North America, most notably eastern Canada, where he dedicated his work to resolving union disputes and teaching companies how to better deliver value in the services and products they provided to others. It was in Canada Jim met his wife Diane, and it was through his work and his family life that his commitment to bettering the lives of others was always evident.

Coach Jim and his wife moved to Mansfield in 1993 to raise their family. Jim was active in coaching each of his children’s sport teams, especially for his beloved sport of basketball. Jim was notorious for orchestrating children’s birthdays, end of school parties and other events around basketball, taking his children to Dallas Mavericks games or to see the Harlem Globetrotters at any chance he could. He also loved spending time boating and water skiing at Lake Whitney with his family, where he shared a love of the hill country with his kids, chasing fireflies, cliff diving and making s’mores over the open fire. Jim was a selfless man, always putting others first and loved to see them smile.

He had a gift of writing, where he particularly loved to write poems for any occasion; be it the annual Christmas letter, birthdays, weddings and many other life events, he always captured the moment perfectly with his sly jokes and witty charm. Standing at 6 foot 6 inches he was an imposing figure, but his carefree attitude and giant smile made him a crowd favorite at any social event.

Jim was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. Jim’s greatest enjoyment came from his family and friends, by all he will be missed dearly.

Jim is survived by his wife Diane; children Rick Curtis, Melissa McAllister, Chris Nelson and wife Megan, Adam Nelson and wife Annie, James McAllister, III, Megan McAllister, and Sean McAllister; grandchildren Ava McAllister, Vivienne Nelson, Mathias Curtis, Marley Curtis, Noah Curtis, and Kingston Curtis; sisters Nancy Archibald, Patricia Feeback, and Jeanne Handorf; and grand dogs Benji, Sadie, and Winnie.

A celebration of Jim’s life will be at 10am on Thursday, August 22 at St. Joseph Catholic Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Jim’s honor to https://www.gofundme.com/f/1q9abt6rtc?sharetype=teams&member=2739750&rcid=r01-1566165293-0f07191b202f4360&pc=ot_co_campmgmt_w.