Obituary: James Mather, 60, Of Westport (2024)

Obituaries

James packed many lifetimes of laughter in his sixty years and found small ways to make hisfamily laugh every day.

Posted Mon, Mar 25, 2024 at 1:31 pm ET|Updated Tue, Mar 26, 2024 at 10:07 am ET

James Mather passed away February 19, 2024 surrounded by his loving family. Despite recent
challenges, James remained the epitome of the Englishman he was – staying strong, and keeping
his wits and great humor about him always.

He leaves behind his loving wife (Karen) and their three daughters (Kendall, Margot and Lucy),
his parents (Don and Maureen), sister (Caroline) and her husband (Derek) and children (Connor
and Lauren), Mother-in-law (JoAnn), three sisters –in-law- (Lauren, Tracy, Kim), two brothers-
in-law (Rick and Dave, Craig in Heaven) and their children (Ryan, Casey Tyler, Colleen, Reid,
Conner, Calvin, Caroline, Kitty and Nolan).

James grew up in Coventry England, as did his parents and grandparents, where he was raised by
the tough but relentlessly funny English stock, steeped in soccer and pub culture. James cheered
on his hometown team, the Coventry City Sky Blues every chance he got – enjoying pints at the
local pub with family, friends and strangers alike.

At the age of 9 James chose to attend The Royal Wolverhampton School, where he not only
excelled in all his studies but also joined the Army Cadets, became an accomplished pianist and
enjoyed amateur dramatics.

From an early age James was always heading towards investment banking as he would convince
Caroline to swap her pocket money for the latest color, picture vinyl, of whichever heavy metal
group was his favorite of the time, as he had spent all of his! Football in the winter, cricket in the
summer, sport filled James’ younger years — a passion that continued throughout his life. James
cherished his wonderful family holidays abroad, planting the seed to spread his wings to live and
work outside of the UK.

After graduating at the top of his class from Coventry Polytechnic with a BA in Economics,
James was granted a scholarship to attend Exeter University where he earned his Masters in
Finance and Investment. Despite the rigorous program, James was able to enjoy his love of
music, serving as the opening DJ before concerts with thousands of attendees and warming up
the crowd for the likes of R.E.M. and the Bangles. He could be seen chatting comfortably just as
easily with the lead singer after a show or anyone off the street, with his magnetism earning him
a kiss and a signed album from Susanna Hoffs.

Upon graduation in 1986, James flew to Tokyo for a training program with Nomura International
where he made life-long international friends and was at the forefront of the emerging field of
Interest Rate Derivatives. Destiny sent James to NYC where he met his wife Karen, the love of his life. He was a Managing Director at several large banks but made his mark professionally at RBS Greenwich Capital (2000-2013) and gathered more lifelong friends along the way.

Once James started dating Karen (always called “Goose”), he never looked back. After a laugh-
filled, adventurous eighteen-month courtship, “Goose” and “Hippo” married in St. Thomas and
began their great adventure together. NYC in the 1990’s was a giant playground for Goose,
Hippo and their many friends, where they attended countless concerts, enjoyed Knicks season
tickets and it was not uncommon to stay out until the sun rose. Karen’s twin sister Kimmy and
her boyfriend Ricky were partners in crime and eventually the foursome raised their families
together only one town apart.

James’ biggest source of joy was being with his wife and daughters nicknamed Boo, Magsy and
Lucy-Goose, collectively called the Ladybugs. Starting when the girls were one, two and three
years old, you could find James ‘swimming’ with them every Saturday morning at the YMCA
pool. James had the girls on the soccer pitch as soon as they could join a rec team, attending
most games, filled with humor if not talent. James instilled the love of soccer in his Ladybugs
and relished the chance to take his family to see the wild 2018 World Cup Soccer final game in
Moscow.

Just as passionate with music, you often heard James before you saw him – loud baselines and
drums echoed from his office, car and the boat he named the Ladybugs. James enjoyed whipping
the family and cousins around on the boat, in inner-tubes, to the tune of “Speed of Sound” by
Coldplay. He was effortlessly the cool guy, with his aviators and penchant for the good life.

If you knew any of the Mathers, you knew James. He immediately connected with anyone he
met – young and old, from every background, including all his daughters’ friends. He had a well
of jokes and funny stories he could immediately remember and could easily quote Shakespeare
in one sentence followed by a line from a silly movie in the next. Laughter followed James
wherever he went and his distinctly hearty laugh was a fixture at the Patterson Club – which
became his English Pub filled with many friends and where he loved discussing soccer with
Augie behind the bar. James was an avid golfer and an excellent Hearts player. Every holiday,
James broke out the cards and a ruthless game of Hearts ensued, often lasting well past midnight.

He loved teaching not only his daughters, but also his nieces and nephews his strategy. Even
experienced players learned to avoid being seated to his right at all costs.

James packed many lifetimes of laughter in his sixty years and found small ways to make his
family laugh every day. Recently, when Lucy wished her Dad good morning, he looked at her
striped sweater and quipped “you look like the Hamburglar!” Each night before Kendall would
go to sleep, James would point at the big wire letters spelling out her name across her wall and ask “whose room is this?” He took his daughter Margot to see Dave Chapelle perform standup at Foxwoods Casino, arriving early to teach her how to play black jack (and lose terribly.)

James taught his girls to be confident, dream big and carry themselves with grace – believing
they could do anything they set their minds to. He guided them (and many other youngsters) to
pursue the careers they aspired to under his guidance and constant encouragement. James was
the grounding force in their lives; the pep talk before a tough exam or career move, the shoulder
to cry on, tailgate partner in crime at UMiami football games, chess partner, and jam buddy.

A short while ago, James sang an old childhood hymn to his family – Lord of All Hopefulness. We would like to share this verse with you:

Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,
Your hands swift to welcome,
Your arms to embrace,
Be there at our homing,
And give us, we pray,
Your love in our hearts, Lord,
At the eve of the day.