James Joseph Leary, 87, of Blue Springs, Missouri, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones on Friday, December 11, 2015. Visitation and Rosary will be Monday, December 14th at Royer Funeral Home, 100 Royer Lane, Grain Valley, MO. The family will receive visitors from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, December 15th at St. Roberts Bellarmine Catholic Church, 4313 S.W. State Route 7, Blue Springs, MO.
James was born June 14, 1928, in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of James C. and Margaret (Schrimpf) Leary. He attended grade school at St. Francis Xavier and graduated from Bishop Hogan High School.
James started working at the age of 15 as a part-time employee at Wonder Bread. He worked for over 30 years on a full-time basis as a route salesman and supervisor. He was known as “Smasher” by some of the other bread men, as he did not like them putting their bread in his space on the shelf. If he found someone else’s bread, he would smash it and replace it with Wonder Bread.
Once he retired from Wonder Bread, he decided to drive a school bus for Blue Springs School District, which he did for 10 years. He also was a driver for OATS Transportation for 4 years.
James was a devoted Catholic who dearly loved his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He enjoyed bowling and telling stories about his bread route at Wonder Bread. James was quite the dancer and no matter how he felt, if he was dancing he just came alive. He also loved to listen to music by playing it on his record player at home.
James served in the National Guard from June, 1954 to July, 1955. He was a baseball umpire, a member of Knights of Columbus, sang in the church choir, and was a volunteer for the Red Cross, Telephone Pioneers and Salvation Army. James was also President of several men’s clubs, including St. Pius X and St. Roberts.
Not only will memories of James live in our hearts forever, so will some of his favorite sayings such as: KTND (keep the noise down); for the astronauts to walk on the moon they too had to take that first big step; grab your ears; ask yourself two questions, 1) Does it belong to you? 2) Does it concern you? If the answer to these two questions is no, then leave it alone; remember the three C’s, remain Calm, Cool and Collected; one way or the other it makes no difference to me; turn it down or off; and time to go to B-E-D.
James was preceded in death by his parents; five brothers & sisters; his son, James Stephen Leary in 1951; and stepson, Sean Lantz in 2012.
His survivors include his wife, Wilma Leary of the home who he married February 14, 1984; four daughters: Margaret Wichman (Boyd) of Lenexa KS, Ann Romero (Charlie) of Englewood CO, Susan Buzan (John) of Merriam KS, and Kelly Gilbert (Ron) of Kansas City MO; two sons: Tim Leary (Teri) of Merriam KS, and Pat Leary (Jackie) of Overland Park KS; two stepdaughters: Julie Norman (Ron) of Blue Springs, and Lisa Frazier of Topeka KS; sixteen grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; and eighteen great-grandchildren.
The family request in lieu of sending flowers to make donations to: St. Roberts Bellarmine Catholic Church Building Fund (4313 S.W. State Route 7, Blue Springs, MO 64014) and Timothy Lutheran Break Time Club (425 NW R.D. Mize Rd, Blue Springs, MO 64014).
Arrangements: Royer Funeral Home, Grain Valley, MO 816-847-4441