James Joseph Phelan of Potomac, Maryland, a longtime summer resident of Westhampton Beach, died on September 19 at Johns Hopkins Hospital with his wife, Kathy McGrath, at his side. He was 61 and died of multiple myeloma.
Mr. Phelan was a graduate of the Cranwell Preparatory School in Lenox, Massachusetts, and Georgetown University. He had a 40-year career on Wall Street and was working at the time of his death with the Washingtonian Group at UBS in Washington, D.C.
In 1985, he bought a house on Brook Road in Westhampton Beach, where he summered for 14 years. He and his wife sold the summer home in 2000 when they relocated to Maryland. The following summers, he attended family reunions in Westhampton Beach. As a member of the Westhampton Country Club, he often played in the member guest tournaments, alternating with his brothers. He also enjoyed taking his children fishing at Montauk Point, as well as ocean swimming at the Swordfish Club, where his children were taught to swim and enjoy the ocean.
He is also survived by two sons, John “Jack” Morgan Phelan (17), and Peter O’Brien Phelan (13); his mother, Madeleine “Mimi” Phelan Welsh, who has summered on Beach Road since 1987; a sister, Jody Phelan Cooney; brothers, Gerard Thomas Phelan and Robert Morgan Phelan; and a nephew, Andrew Benson Phelan.
A wake was held on September 26 and a funeral Mass on September 27 at the Church of Our Lady of Mercy in Potomac. Interment was at St. Gabriel’s Cemetery in Potomac Falls. A memorial reception followed at his home in Potomac Falls.
on Oct 6, 2015