James E. Feehery Jr., retired FBI agent, private investigator, and veteran, has died at 78
He spent two decades at the bureau’s office in Newtown Square and handled many of its most complex cases. “He was honest and devoutly loyal,” his wife said.
James E. Feehery Jr., 78, of West Chester, retired FBI agent, private investigator, and Marine Corps veteran, died Friday, Feb. 2, of multiple myeloma at his home.
Inspired by an FBI agent he knew as a boy growing up in Yeadon, Mr. Feehery joined the bureau in 1972 and was stationed for more than two decades at the resident agency in Newtown Square. He became an expert in insurance fraud investigations, was the bureau’s first special agent to assist the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office in London, and handled hundreds of complex cases across the United States and in England, Scotland, Spain, and the Bahamas.
He also tracked down fugitives and investigated organized crime, bank robberies, and other significant offenses. He went undercover on many cases, and his probes were reported in The Inquirer and Daily News in 1979 regarding a forgery case in Norristown, in 1980 concerning an industrial espionage case in Montgomeryville, and in 1989 about an insurance scam and a jailbreak sting in Delaware County.
He spent his first few years with the bureau in Pittsburgh and retired in 1997. He worked for two years after that with the National Fraud Center and then cofounded the investigation firm of Cloud, Feehery, and Richter in West Chester in 1999. He retired for good in 2014.
Mr. Feehery enlisted in the Marine Corps after college and served as a second lieutenant in Vietnam even after his brother Richard was killed there in 1967. Later, he was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and graduated first in his class of 65 scuba divers.
“He was known for his fierce devotion to family, deep love of country, strong faith, work ethic, and loyalty to many relatives and friends,” his family said in an online tribute. He was called Jef because of his initials J.E.F.
“He was so self-effacing,” said longtime friend Jack McCallum. “When you were with him you felt absorbed in his view of life and family. I can’t imagine anyone meeting Jef and not liking him”
James Edward Feehery Jr. was born Aug. 31, 1945. He grew up with four sisters and three brothers in Yeadon and graduated from Monsignor Bonner High School in 1963.
He was a star swimmer at Bonner, a member of its 1963 National Catholic Interscholastic Swimming and Diving championship team, and was inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame in 2016. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting at La Salle University and a master’s degree in business at Widener University. He also took classes at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and worked briefly as a tax accountant after his discharge from the Marines.
He met fellow FBI agent Kathleen Meyers in Washington, and they married in 1972 to become the first known married couple in the history of the FBI. They lived in Pittsburgh and West Chester, and had sons Christopher and Patrick.
Mr. Feehery played golf, starred on an adult swim team in West Chester, and followed the Eagles and Phillies closely. He coached youth baseball and soccer teams, and served as president of the Catholic Youth Organization at St. Agnes Parish in West Chester.
He was a devout Catholic and volunteered often at church and for the Salvation Army. Friends and strangers alike could rely on him when they needed support, and his family said: “He lived a duty-driven life and practiced the virtues of faith, hope, and charity.”
Handy around the house, he was a talented woodworker who made a rocking chair for his wife and toy trains for his sons. He enjoyed summer days with family and friends in Stone Harbor, and especially liked to watch the sun rise on the beach with his wife.
“He had a strong sense of loyalty and purpose in life,” his wife said. “He was a good, good person. He made me a better person.”
In addition to his wife and sons, Mr. Feehery is survived by five grandchildren, three sisters, one brother, and other relatives. Two brothers and a sister died earlier.
Visitation with the family is to be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, at DellaVecchia, Reilly, Smith & Boyd Funeral Home, 410 N. Church St., West Chester, Pa. 19380, and from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Friday, Feb. 9, at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church, 15 E. Pleasant Grove Rd., West Chester, Pa. 19382. A funeral service is to follow at 11 a.m.
Donations in his name may be made to St. Agnes Day Room and Outreach Services, 233 W. Gay St., West Chester, Pa. 19380; and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, 3033 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300, Arlington, Va. 22201.