CAVANAUGH, James Joseph Anthony, M.D. of West Yarmouth, formerly of Osterville and Wellesley Hills, passed away November 28, 2023 at the age of 96, surrounded by family and friends. He was the beloved husband of Jeanne (Currivan) for sixty-eight years, and loving father of five. He leaves behind daughters MaryJo Cavanaugh of Sandwich, Maureen Buttenheim and her husband Ted of Cranston, RI; and sons, Brian J. Cavanaugh and his wife Valerie Robin of Hingham, James A. Cavanaugh of Southbridge, and John A. Cavanaugh and his wife Carol of West Barnstable. He leaves nine grandchildren (Catrina, Brianna, James, Parker, Anna, Mary Kate, Cassie, Elle and Tadd), and eight great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, Jane (Loughran), Leo R., and Clara (Jobe), as well as siblings Mary (Cashman), Leo, Lawrence, Ann, and Margaret (Coughlin).

Before college, he served in the U.S. Navy on the USS Colorado at the end of WW II. He was a graduate of Manhattan College and Georgetown University Medical School, trained in pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and was a research fellow at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. He served as chief of pediatrics at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Boston, was a consultant to Boston City schools, and pursued post-doctoral studies in education and developmental psychology at Harvard and Brandeis. A pioneer in creating programs in public and private schools for children with learning differences, he lectured and wrote extensively. He founded Eagle Hill School in Hardwick, MA (1967), and subsequently Eagle Hill Schools in Greenwich, CT (1975) and Lloyd Harbor, NY (1981). He developed a child development program called BASICS (1991), designed to help parents foster early learning opportunities in the home. Following his work in pediatrics, Jim began a successful 25-year allergy and asthma practice in Hyannis, bringing him full circle to where he and Jeanne met on the Cape. He practiced medicine until the age of eighty-eight. He was an avid reader and never lost his love for learning. A man of science and faith, the Church played an important role in a life of discipline and service to others.

Jim enjoyed playing golf, skiing, curling, and ballroom dancing. While at college, Jim was a competitive runner at the half-mile distance and was a medalist at the Millrose Games and the Penn Relays. Jim also enjoyed traveling and one of his favorite trips was to his ancestral Ireland for the biennial Irish and American Paediatric Society meetings. His life embodied his motto: Keep Moving.

A Mass in celebration of Jim’s life will be held on Saturday, June 22, 2024, at 11AM at Our Lady of the Assumption in Osterville. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you remember Jim by donating, in his memory, to the Housing Assistance Corporation (Hyannis), the Cape Symphony, or to your favorite charity.

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