James McMaster, 90, Budd supervisor

James Robert McMaster, 90, of Tinicum Township, Bucks County, a retired Budd Co. supervisor and a youth sports coach, died Friday, Sept. 16, of heart failure at home.

For almost 40 years, Mr. McMaster shaped steel for railway cars and helicopter rotors for Budd in Philadelphia. He retired as a supervisor in 1987 and then was a consultant for several years.

Mr. McMaster grew up on a dairy farm in Roxborough with eight siblings. He attended Roxborough High School.

During World War II, he was a staff sergeant and tank commander attached to Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army and participated in the invasion of Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and the advance into Germany. While in France, he was a liaison with the Resistance. Last year, he returned to Normandy with a grandson, James McMaster II.

After his discharge, Mr. McMaster joined Budd and became active with sports teams. Until he was in his late 30s, he was a player and coach for a semipro football team, his grandson Scott Ott said.

Mr. McMaster helped establish youth football programs and coached teams in Academy Gardens, in Northeast Philadelphia, and in Lenape Valley and Silver Creek in Bucks County, and was a football coach for the Little Quakers in Bucks County. He was a founder and coach of the Tinicum Tigers Little League team and was a Cub Scout pack leader.

Mr. McMaster and his wife raised four of their grandsons, all of whom he coached in baseball and football. In recent years, he enjoyed attending his great-grandchildren's sporting events.

He and his wife, Jessica MacMenamin McMaster, an office worker at Budd, married in 1967. He cared for her at home for 10 years until her death from Alzheimer's disease in 2006.

Besides grandsons James McMaster II and Scott Ott, he is survived by a daughter, Margaret Raphial; grandsons Troy and Lane Ott and Jesse Raphial; three brothers; and 23 great-grandchildren.

A funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21, at Reed & Steinbach Funeral Home, 2335 Lower State Rd., Doylestown. Friends may call from 1 p.m. Burial will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, at Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Annville, Pa.