James C. O'Hara

James C. O'Hara Obituary James C. O'Hara, of Saint Louis, Missouri, died on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. He was born in Easton, PA, on February 27, 1928, the son of Ada Mae Ritter O'Hara and Clare Robert O'Hara. James graduated from Phillipsburg, New Jersey High School in 1945 and from Lafayette College in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. At Lafayette College he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He graduated from the Executive Program at Stanford University Business School in 1962 and the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University Business School in 1973. Following his graduation from Lafayette College in 1949, he joined the American Car and Foundry Company, later named ACF Industries, Inc., in Berwick, PA, as a tank car engineer. In 1951 he was transferred to the company's operations in Buffalo, NY. In 1953, he was transferred to Albuquerque, NM to establish a research, development and production facility under a contract from the United States Atomic Commission. He was Plant Manager of the facility in Albuquerque. He participated in seven atmospheric nuclear tests in Nevada and at Bikini and Eniwetok Atolls in the Pacific. In 1967 he was transferred to Saint Louis, MO where he became General Manager of the Amcar Division of ACF Industries, Inc. and was elected a Vice President of the corporation. In 1986 he was named President of ACF Industries, Inc. He retired in 1988. In his private life he was a golfer, fisherman, and writer. He enjoyed many winters at his second home in Naples, Florida. He was a lifetime member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and he was a longtime member of Old Warson Country Club in Saint Louis. He was a member of and served as President of the Hawthorn Investment Syndicate. His wife Anne, whom he married in 1951, passed away in 2002. His wife Marcia Pugh O'Hara, passed away in 2019. He is survived by his son James, Jr. and his wife Debbie, Robert and his wife Cyndi, John and his wife Linda, his daughters Vivian O'Hara, and Jacquelyn Crnic and her husband Paul, a step-daughter Janice Peterson, his grand-children Michael O'Hara, Sara McQueeny, Kelley Wilkerson, Knut-Henrik Brouwer, Amber Toler, Grace O'Hara, David O'Hara, Thomas O'Hara, Katherine O'Hara, and his great grand-children Ryley McQueeny, Alexandria O'Hara, Parker O'Hara, Dylan Wilkerson, and Reese Wilkerson. Interment at Bellerive Gardens Cemetery will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania (www.lafayette.edu).

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James C. O'Hara

February 27, 1928 - October 16, 2024