Allaire, James M.

James M. Allaire, 95, of Iowa City, died Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, at Briarwood Health Care Center. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Coralville with the Rev. David Hitch officiating. Burial will be at the Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City. Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. at the church.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made in his memory to Iowa City Hospice, 1025 Wade St., Iowa City, IA 52240.

Online condolences may be sent for his family through the web at .

James Mortimer Allaire was born March 6, 1917, in Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of Douglas and Grace Allaire. Jim graduated from The Cooper Union in 1939 with a bachelor of science degree in Civil Engineering and joined Turner Construction Co. the next year. He married Virginia McCann at St. Rose of Lima Church in Brooklyn in 1942. The new couple moved to Ashtabula, Ohio, for a Turner project for the war effort. According to Jim, it was “pretty far west for a couple of provincial New Yorkers.” It turned out to be just the first of several moves during his nearly 50 years with Turner. After Ashtabula, the growing family returned to New York, followed by moves to Missouri, Ontario, Canada, and back to Katonah, N.Y., which had become their home base. Jim's final Turner transfer was to Southern California in 1965. Jim and Virginia lived in Arcadia, Calif., until they came to Iowa in 1997.

Jim's career with Turner progressed from job site timekeeper in 1940 to vice president and operations manager of the Los Angeles district. He officially retired in 1982 but consulted as project executive on several Los Angeles area Turner projects through the 80s. He also served as an arbitrator and mediator for national arbitration organizations through 2003.

Among Jim's major projects for Turner were several buildings in New York including the American Airlines terminal at Idlewild Airport (1960) and the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center (1964); and several buildings in Los Angeles including Union Bank Plaza (1968), ARCO Plaza (1972, now City National Plaza) and Security Pacific Plaza (1974, now Bank of America Plaza).

On hearing of his passing, a past president of Turner wrote that Jim was a mentor to everyone in Turner who met him. His analytical and professional approach to management was a tremendous contribution to the company and his sage advice and counsel is now part of the culture of the company.

Jim and Virginia lived a full life together. They studied and enjoyed opera, art and languages. They traveled extensively, driving around the United States and through Europe several times and also visiting China and South America. Their last overseas trip was to Iceland in 2004.

Jim cared for the least among us and was active in his community through the church and other organizations. His life was lived with humor and compassion.

He would want to thank the entire staff at Briarwood Health Care Center for making his last couple of years comfortable, sociable, interesting and fun.

The punch list is complete and the owner's expectations have been well met.

Jim was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Virginia; his parents; brothers, Douglas, John and Frank; sister, Grace White; and his brother-in-law, Father Kevin McCann.

His family includes children, Jim (Cheryl) Allaire of St. Cloud, Minn., Virginia (David) Beals of Columbus, Ohio, Doug (Ann) Allaire of Iowa City and Neil (Lois) Allaire of Broomfield, Colo.; seven grandchildren, James A. Allaire, Jamie and Caitlin Beals, Jennifer (Stephen) Cooper, Emily Allaire and Ryan and Kyle Allaire; great-grandchildren, Grace, Ethan and Samuel Cooper and Allaire, Gilmore and Egan Taiber; sister-in-law, Sr. Mary Jogues McCann of Rockville Center, N.Y.; and brother-in-law, Joseph McCann of Hudson, Fla.

Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service is caring for Jim's family and his services.

Published in The Gazette Jen. 8, 2013.