Jim 'Chalky' McCullough, 84; urged racial peace after son's murder
Jim "Chalky" McCullough had one final wish: to live to see the lights go on and the work finished at the 10-bedroom Shore house "in serious need of renovation" that he and his family purchased two years ago in North Wildwood, his daughter Christine Friend said.
Jim "Chalky" McCullough had one final wish: to live to see the lights go on and the work finished at the 10-bedroom Shore house "in serious need of renovation" that he and his family purchased two years ago in North Wildwood, his daughter Christine Friend said.
Last month, McCullough got his wish when he spent a week of vacation there with his five children, 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
"Everyone was really happy to see him down there, sitting on the porch and enjoying it," Friend said.
On Aug. 16, while at the Shore, McCullough suffered a stroke and was taken by helicopter to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he died on Sept. 1. He was 84.
The stroke affected McCullough's speech but just days before he died, he had a moment of clarity and was able to say goodbye to those he loved, his daughter said.
"That room was crowded with people - and love," she said. "It was a brutally painful but beautiful evening and it really was miraculous that he got to say goodbye."
Above all, McCullough was a man of faith, and it was his belief in God that got him through the murder of his teenage son, a battle with cancer, and a terrifying home invasion.
McCullough was born, raised and spent much of his life in Grays Ferry. He belonged to St. Gabriel's Parish, where he sang in the choir and coached CYO track and cross-country. He graduated from Southeast Catholic High School in 1950. He acquired the nickname "Chalky" because he used to keep score for baseball games with chalk on the street, Friend said.
McCullough married his wife, Jane, on Sept. 12 and the couple would have celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary next week.
"My mom said he was her very breath, and that's the truth. They were always together," Friend said. "They held hands every night watching TV. Their love was real and strong and different."
The couple had six children: Jane Casper, Jim Jr., Danny, Beth McDonough, Bob, and Christine Friend.
In 1974, the McCulloughs' son Danny was shot and killed at the age of 15 after leaving Mass at St. Gabriel's. According to news articles from the time, the shooting was random and came amid escalating racial tensions in Grays Ferry. Despite their pain, the McCulloughs called for peace.
"My only hope is that blacks and whites someday will be able to get along together, that they will live in harmony and peace," McCullough was quoted as saying at the time. "That's God's will."
McCullough was a "jack of all trades" who worked in such fields as lithography and accounting, his daughter said. After his son's death, McCullough went to work for the city's Redevelopment Authority as an accountant. He retired from the city but continued to work on his own, hanging wallpaper and helping people prepare their taxes.
McCullough battled non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but was cancer-free for the last 20 years of his life, his daughter said. He was proud of the fact that he never took a drink of alcohol and he never smoked, Friend said.
The McCulloughs loved Grays Ferry, but after a home intruder burst through their locked front door one night, walked right past McCullough, grabbed his wife's purse and walked right back out, McCullough never felt safe there again.
So in 2003 the couple moved to Williamstown, Gloucester County, and into a "multi-generational" house with their son Jim Jr.; their daughter, Friend; her husband; and her son.
"It's been a wonderful 13 years together, we're a very close family," Friend said.
A funeral Mass for McCullough will be said at 8 p.m. Tuesday at St. Gabriel's Church. A viewing from 4 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. will precede the Mass. Burial will be held at Saints Peter and Pauls Cemetery in Springfield.
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