James Robert McGinn, a longtime Chelmsford resident who was born and raised in Peabody, died peacefully on Friday, October 23, 2026. He was 90 and had been married 62 years to Sheila M. (Ennis) McGinn.
He was born in Peabody on February 26, 1936, the son of the late John J. Sr. and Anna (Connors) McGinn, attended St. John the Baptist Parochial School, graduated from Peabody High School in 1954 and earned a business degree at Suffolk University. He worked as a contracts administrator at several New England corporations, among them RCA and Northrop, and was a lifelong communicant of St. Mary Parish in Chelmsford. A beach day, a Sunday Patriots game and an afternoon crossword were his pleasures, along with the family lake cottage in New Hampshire, golf and winters in Siesta Key, Fla.
Besides his wife, he leaves his son, Jim; his daughters, Kelly and her husband Christopher Christake of Durango, Colo., Stephanie of Norwich, N.Y., and Alison and her husband Joseph Brant of Potsdam, N.Y.; his grandchildren, Jaxon and Evelyn; his brother-in-law, Phillip Fraser of Danvers; and nine nieces and nephews. His brother John J. McGinn Jr. and his sister Marie McGinn, both of Peabody, died before him.
Visiting hours are Tuesday, October 27 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Blake Chelmsford Funeral Home, 24 Worthen Street, Chelmsford. A Mass of Christian Burial is Wednesday, October 28 at 11 a.m. at St. Mary Parish, 25 North Road, Chelmsford, with burial at Annunciation Cemetery, 155 Hobart Street, Danvers.
Compiled from information published by Chelmsford, MA. Photograph courtesy of the family via Chelmsford, MA. This is our own summary, not the family’s obituary; read the full obituary and leave a condolence at the funeral home’s page on Legacy.com. Corrections: we will fix any error promptly.
