Charles James ‘Jim’ McDermott III Of Quogue Dies September 3

Charles James “Jim” McDermott III of Quogue died peacefully on September 3 after a long struggle with a brain injury due to a fall. He was 83.

He was born in Brooklyn on April 23, 1939, and grew up in Madison and then Bernardsville, New Jersey. He graduated from the Peck School, in Morristown, New Jersey, The Hotchkiss School, in Lakeville, Connecticut, and Rollins College, in Winter Park, Florida, where he was an active member of the crew team.

McDermott served for two years in the U.S. Army at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.

Returning to New York City, he wrote for a number of small magazines until he began working at Norman Vincent Peale’s magazine “Guideposts.” There, he was not only writing, but also teaching writing in towns all over the U.S. under the aegis of “Guideposts.” As Peale and McDermott came to know each other, Peale asked McDermott to accompany him on his speaking tours to “warm up the crowds.” McDermott traveled with Peale, esteemed author of “The Power of Positive Thinking,” with his clever introductions and captured audiences around the nation.

He married Judith Vandeveer, of Bernardsville, New Jersey, in March 1975. They lived in Brooklyn and then Riverside, Connecticut, where they raised their children.

He retired to Quogue where the couple lived a life filled with friends, sports, and extensive travels. He was the Warden at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Westhampton Beach. He was an avid athlete, playing tennis, golf, surfing, skiing and biking. He loved boats, fishing and vintage cars. He was also a well- known word smith and brilliant raconteur of many a joke and story at Quogue dinner parties, his family said.

McDermott was a member of the Shinnecock Yacht Club, where he served as Commodore and a member of the Racquet and Tennis Club, New York City, the Quogue Field Club, where he served as governor and the Quogue Beach Club. He also loved nothing better that shooting at the Long Island Wyandanch Club, his family said.

He is survived by his wife Judith; a son David McDermott; a daughter Britton Sanders; a sister Sheila Pardoe; and five grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Westhampton Beach at 11 a.m. on Friday, October 21.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the East End Hospice (eeh.org).