* James J. Feeney; Insurance Agent

Longtime Ojai resident James Joseph Feeney, an insurance agent and Boy Scout volunteer, died on Monday. He was 72.

Born in New York City on June 26, 1926, Feeney attended Power Memorial Academy in New York and then was called to serve in the Navy. After fighting in World War II, he was honorably discharged in July, 1946.

Following his service in the military, Feeney became an insurance agent and later started his own insurance company, Simi Insurance Co.

Feeney, his wife Grace, and son Daniel, moved to Ojai in 1973, where Feeney continued selling life, health and accident insurance.

Feeney was an accomplished fiddle player and specialized in Irish music, said his son Dan Feeney. He was also an opera lover and traveled throughout the United States to attend operas.

He had an extensive collection of classical music, which will be donated to the Thomas Aquinas College in Ojai.

He was also active in a local chapter of the Holy Name Society, a worldwide Catholic organization, and he often gave speeches on the Shroud of Turin, a subject he had studied for years.

Feeney was a Boy Scout volunteer for many years, working primarily with the Explorer group.

“I look back today and realize my father basically lived his entire life for everybody else,” said Daniel Feeney, 41, of Ojai. “The things he ever asked for you could count on one hand.”

Along with his wife and son, Feeney is survived by daughters Mary Helen and Allanah Marie Feeney, both of New York, stepson Robert Drace of Buena Park, stepdaughter Catherine Logan of Lakewood, 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be held Monday from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Joseph Reardon Funeral Home, 757 E. Main St., in Ventura. A funeral Mass will be said Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 3175 Telegraph Road, Ventura. Private burial services will be held at a later date in Long Beach.