James Shannon Rice Jr

James Shannon Rice, Jr. was born on December 12, 1946, at Georgetown Hospital in Washington, DC, where his father, a naval officer, was stationed. Jim was the first child of James S. Rice, Sr. and Mary (Mahoney) Rice, and would eventually have five younger brothers and sisters.

During the 1950's and 1960's the family moved around the country, following Jim Sr.'s career in telecommunications. Jimmy, as he was known as a boy, lived in Dayton, Ohio; Los Angeles, Riverside, and Newport Beach, CA; and Ridgewood, NJ, while growing up.

Jim graduated from Wilmington College in Boca Raton, FL (now Lynn University). After college he returned to Southern California and in 1976, he met the love of his life, Judy O'Boyle, while working at Builders Emporium in Costa Mesa. As a sign of things to come, Jim and Judy spent many date nights at LA Kings hockey games, where Jim taught Judy to love the game as much as he did. After six months, Jim proposed to Judy over dinner at the Depot restaurant in San Juan Capistrano. They were married in 1979 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Newport Beach, and honeymooned in Santa Barbara, where Judy's parents had honeymooned in 1950.

Jim and Judy made their home in Orange County until their recent retirement. Jim worked in shipping and receiving for various companies, particularly in the medical optics field, ending his career with over 20 years at Abbott Medical Optics. He was deeply touched when his co-workers gave him a surprise retirement party to recognize and thank him for his years of service to the company.

Jim loved sports, especially hockey, and one of the things he enjoyed about retirement was being able to watch as many hockey games as he wanted. He and Judy were original season-ticket holders for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, and were proud of their perfect attendance record at home games for the first 11 years of the franchise. They always remembered the time they won a "fan appreciation" weekend to attend an away game on a Saturday night in Vancouver. They made sure they were back in Anaheim in time for the Sunday night home game! Judy claimed that Jim "created a monster" because she arranged her work schedule, as a nurse at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, around the Ducks' schedule. They even named one of their basset hounds Stanley, in honor of the Stanley Cup.

Basset hounds were a part of Jim's life, from his childhood dogs Homer and Henry, to Samantha Sue, Duffy, and finally Stanley. Jim and Stanley were known in the Dana Point Marina Mobile Home Estates for their walks. If Stanley decided he was through walking and lay down in the street, Jim would pick him up and "walk him" by carrying him home, not an easy feat considering that Stanley weighed about 60 lbs.

Jim was also a baseball fan, and had an encyclopedic memory for baseball statistics. He had a beloved collection of baseball cards, and spent many happy hours sharing Angels' games with his co-workers. Along with hockey and baseball, Jim enjoyed Italian food (in spite of being Irish) and 50's rock and roll.

He was famous among his friends and co-workers for his collection of hats. It was rare to see him without a hat, in every style from tweed caps to fedoras. Even the announcers at the Ducks' game could recognize Jim in the crowd by his signature hats.

Jim and Judy were parishioners at St. Timothy Catholic Church in Laguna Niguel for many years. Jim considered this parish his spiritual home. He enjoyed Father Bruce's Saturday morning Liturgy of the Hours, and found comfort in Saturday morning Adoration and the Mens' Days of Prayer. Through St. Timothy's, Jim and Judy had the opportunity to see Pope John Paul at the Coliseum during his visit to the United States. Most recently, Jim and Judy were getting to know their new parish, Our Lady of the Valley in Hemet.

Jim is survived by Judy, his wife of 35 years; his mother, Mary Rice of Wilmette, IL; brothers and sisters, Kathleen Rice, Sharon Sklansky (Donald), Michael Rice, Deirdre Rice, and Mark Rice (Susan); and several nieces and nephews.

The family would like to acknowledge and thank the staff at Hemet Valley Medical Center for their compassionate care during Jim's last hours.