James H. Rafferty passed away peacefully at home this month, October of 2022, surrounded by loved ones at the age of 80.

A private family service will be held at Miles Funeral Home in Holden, MA, with a burial to follow at Worcester County Memorial Park in Paxton.

James was born in Weymouth, MA, the son of James Lewis Rafferty and Arlene Gay (Walter) Rafferty, and lived in Spencer, MA for the last 5 years.

James will be lovingly remembered by his wife, Chong Cha (Kim) Rafferty; his sons and daughter, James Patrick Rafferty and Debbie Catarius of Chelmsford and their two children, Brianna and Bethanie; John Rafferty and Nikki Gagnon Rafferty of Spencer and their 5 children, Joshua, Kyla, Lukas, Wyatt and Riley; Lisa Rafferty and Matt St. Louis of Spencer and their 2 children, Isaac and Bella. James’ sisters; Patricia O’Rafferty, Gay Bastow-McKinley and Cheryl Varela.

James had worked as a Mechanical Engineer/Senior Designer for his entire career. Creating industrial boiler systems and innovating with inventions that would go on to be patented by the company he worked for. Two of his greatest passions were Chess, where he had reached international rankings; and Football, with his two favorite teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots. As a younger man, he enjoyed many road trips, one of his more memorable drives through ‘Desert Valley’ in Nevada. Music always had a place in his life, being avid fans of Simon and Garfunkel, Abba, The Everly Brothers, The Beach Boys, Reina del Cid just to name a few.

Throughout all of life’s challenges, James’ sense of humor and ability to make people laugh out loud or smile from ear to ear had been his greatest strength. “Dad Jokes” were a big part of his repertoire and it was his unique laugh you would hear the loudest after he delivered his punch line…as if to say, “No matter what life can throw at you, always keep laughing…”