James E. ‘Jim’ McAvoy, a plumber for 64 years, dead at 82

Jim McAvoy let his six kids know what the rules were.

A plumber, Mr. McAvoy believed there was a right and a wrong way to do everything, whether it was threading a pipe, giving a firm handshake, laying tile or sweeping the floor.

When he and his buddies relaxed after work by having a few beers at the bar he built in his basement, they’d sometimes engage in feats of strength — like seeing how long they could hold a sledgehammer straight out in front of them. The wiry Mr. McAvoy could even put his arms around the metal support pole in the basement and lift his body parallel to the floor.

“He was a rugged individual,” said his brother Dan.

Mr. McAvoy, 82, a plumber for 64 years, died Tuesday of interstitial lung disease at his Algonquin home.

When his kids were younger, he’d sit them up on the bar, his forehead touching theirs, and ask if anything was bothering them. He gave pep talks and encouragement.

Once, when he returned home from a long workday, his daughter Alice greeted him by hurling a snowball. He was too tired to be happy about it. She told him, “You’re no fun!” and ran into their Northwest Side home.

He one-upped her, appearing in the kitchen toting the head of a snowman he’d just decapitated. To screams and laughter, “He chases me and lunges it across the kitchen,” she said. “There was snow everywhere.”

His kids were involved in football, baseball, basketball, wrestling and volleyball. Mr. McAvoy came straight from work, still in muddy boots, so he wouldn’t miss their games. He’d tell them: “Anything else you’ve tried, you’ve succeeded. You are absolutely up to this challenge.”

Tough, uncompromising and direct, his rules and expectations appealed to some neighborhood kids who didn’t get as much structure or attention from their families. They hung around the McAvoy home, where they seemed to like it when he told them they ought to work harder or maybe get a haircut.

“They were over at the house really to be told where the guidelines were,” said his son Tim.

He grew up in the 5000 block of West Patterson in the Roman Catholic parish of St. Bart’s, where, if he got into trouble, the nuns made him clean the convent stairs with a toothbrush.

He was a senior at Foreman High School when he met his future wife, Alice Ruth Poppelreiter, at a dance at St. Andrew Catholic Church, 3546 N. Paulina, where the pastor was Bernard J. Sheil, founder of the Catholic Youth Organization.

Alice had contemplated becoming a nun. But, she said, “We really liked being with one another, so it just turned into a love connection.”

Mr. McAvoy and his mother went to the Sears at Six Corners to buy an engagement ring. He proposed at Olson Rug factory’s park at Diversey and Pulaski, a little slice of the North Woods with its waterfall and statues of animals and Native Americans. They got married in 1955.

Like his father and three brothers, Jim McAvoy entered plumbing school and joined Local 130. “He was very proud of being a union plumber,” said his son Pat.

Mr. McAvoy worked on the construction of the University of Illinois at Chicago and plumbing jobs for Motorola and hospitals. He worked for O’Callaghan Brothers Plumbing and Fritz’s Plumbing before opening his own business, McAvoy Brothers Plumbing.

The McAvoys sent their girls to Good Counsel High and their boys to Gordon Tech, now DePaul College Prep. The only time they used credit was to buy their house on Waveland. “If you didn’t have the money, you didn’t buy it,” said their son Jim.

If a friend had a plumbing emergency, Mr. McAvoy dropped everything to help — “even if it was Christmas morning,” said his daughter Bridget McAvoy.

“He taught us humanity, empathy and what generosity really meant,” said another daughter, Mary Schultz.

Mr. McAvoy enjoyed watching World War II shows on the History Channel and his wife’s Sunday roast beef, mashed potatoes and green beans. With his 14 grandchildren, he liked reading stories, playing cards and watching football, as well as waltzing, disco-ing and rocking out to every dance at their weddings.

After he retired, the McAvoys bought a van and traveled west to see the Grand Canyon and other sights. They also enjoyed trips to Colombia and Ireland. In 2010, they renewed their vows in Maui.

Visitation is from 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Willow Funeral Home in Algonquin. A funeral Mass is planned for 11 a.m. Monday at St. Margaret Mary Church in Algonquin.