James J. Massot

James Massot, November 14, 1936 – January 22, 2024
James Massot, 87, father of five children, eight grandchildren, seven great grandchildren, and a loving husband to his wife Frances (Hedley) of 67 years, died on January 22, 2024, of complications of congestive heart failure.
Jim was the fourth of five children born to Hermenegild Massot of Barcelona, Spain, and Grace Madden, an Irish Catholic from Manhattan. Born in Brooklyn where he grew up on E. 39th Street off Ave. D., Jim met his future wife Fran while attending a high-school dance. They married in 1956.
Jim Massot was a loving person, loyal, and generous. He was devoted to his family, and beset by tragedy through all of his years as a parent. He and Fran lost their third child Rita in 1976 in a car accident. After losing two daughters-in-law Fran and Jim lovingly opened their home to their son, Thomas and his 3 children. Leslie, Thomas, and Rita while supporting their son during the lose of his significant other, Maria. Not long thereafter, their son Thomas passed away in 2002. In September 2023, Jim and Fran lost their beloved daughter Dolores from complications associated with childhood diabetes.
Jim worked hard over the years to provide for his family, first as a soda fountain manager at Schraffts, then he was a waiter at the famed Cattleman steakhouse in Manhattan, and Joe’s Pier 52. Reluctantly, he and Fran moved to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, living initially in a grand home on the esteemed Ridgewood Ave., before moving to a more manageable home a few blocks away on Reynolds Rd.
While Jim was waiting tables, he started his own business in Brooklyn as a painter in 1978 with his son Tom. When Jim, Fran and the family moved to New Jersey, Jim took on his business full time, “J & T Quality Painting”. They had clients in and around Glen Ridge as well as in Brooklyn and Manhattan. He could fix and build most anything.
He was dependable and selfless. Whenever his children or grandchildren had an important event, he was there. He was admired as an uncle. His nieces and nephews visited him with great frequency and on a whim. They, too, loved him dearly. He loved his country. He loved music and the opera, and dogs. Jim loved singing in the church choir and took singing and acting lessons in his early years. God Bless James Massot. The world is a better place for him having been here.
Arrangements by O’Boyle Funeral Home, Broad Street. Bloomfield. Condolences at www.oboylefuneralhome.com