James Shoch Obituary (2022) – Los Angeles, CA

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1940 – 2022 James R. Shoch III passed away peacefully at his home in Pasadena, CA on Sunday, May 1, 2022, from complications of Parkinson’s Disease. He was 82 years old.
Jamie was born to Anna Scudder Shoch and James R. Shoch II in Philadelphia, PA, the oldest of four children. He was a “lifer” at The Haverford School, where he lettered in football and swimming and was an All-American swimmer. He went on to the University of Virginia, where he played offensive end on the football team and graduated in 1963 with a Bachelors degree in foreign affairs.
While at UVA Jamie was President of St. Elmo Hall, and forged close friendships with many of the members which continued during his lifetime.
Post University Jamie joined Pan-American World Airways as operations manager in New York and later in Malaysia. While serving in Malaysia he met his first wife, Gundula, whom he married in Buenos Aires in 1967. In 1970 the couple returned to Philadelphia where Jamie joined the Girard Trust Bank. In 1973 Jamie began his international banking expatriate life with a first posting to Singapore. In 1978 Jamie was recruited by Security Pacific Bank of Los Angeles, and later accepted the position of head of International Banking at The Union Bank of California with another posting in London.
In 1993 Jamie met Elena Miller Reilly of San Francisco, whom he married in 1994 and with whom he shared the happiest days of his life in Pasadena, at the home they created, their “Casa Favorita.”
In 1992, when Bank of America took over Security Pacific Bank, Jamie, with the help of his global network, re-invented himself at AON corporation as the Managing Director for Global Risk Management where he remained until his retirement in 2006. In retirement Jamie was finally able to spend more time enjoying his sporting activities: fly-fishing, bird shoots, sailing, and tennis. Jamie was the consummate clubman, with memberships during his career from Singapore to San Francisco and Philadelphia. Most of all, he enjoyed his leadership of the Tournaments Committee at the California Club, where he remains chairman in-perpetuity. The domino social nights he hosted were legendary.
Jamie asked that he be remembered as a good husband, a good father, a good friend and a good professional. He was all of those things. He will be greatly missed by his family and many friends.
Jamie died at ‘Casa Favorita” on the first Sunday of May, with Elena and his daughter Gillian holding his hands.
Jamie is survived by his wife Elena, daughter Gillian and her husband Scott, grandchildren Isabelle and Alexander, sisters Nancy and Jeannie, stepdaughter Elena, her husband Todd and their daughters Claire and Elsa, stepson Matthew and former wife Laurie. He was preceded in death by his first wife Gundula, eldest daughter Alexandra, and younger brother Christopher.
A private memorial service will be held at a later date in Los Angeles. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation in Jamie’s memory to Fisher House Foundation at 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 410, Rockville, MD 20852-1650 (fisherhouse.org) or to the University of Virginia Athletics Foundation (virginiaathleticsfoundation.com).
Cabot and Sons, Pasadena

Published by Los Angeles Times on May 15, 2022.

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