James F. "Jim" Whipple of Beacon Hill, Boston, died July 13 at Kaplan House, Danvers, after a four month battle with multiple myeloma. Jim was born September 1, 1940, the first child of John S. and Natalie (Lynch) Whipple (both deceased), of Marblehead. He attended Marblehead public schools, graduating from Marblehead High School in 1958. He graduated from Yale University in 1962 and Harvard Law School in 1965. He was employed for thirty years as a tax lawyer in the legal department of  Liberty Mutual Insurance Company in Boston.

Jim was a lifelong faithful Catholic. He was meticulous, brilliant, and, above all, deeply devoted to family and friends. His principal avocations were music and sailboat racing.

When Jim was in junior high school, the music director, Robert O. Corley, encouraged him to switch from trumpet to French horn, which proved to be a perfect fit for him. Years later he located Mr. Corley and thanked him for that gift. He had a lifetime of enjoyment, playing in school bands and orchestras, a Navy band during his brief enlistment, and various chamber groups and community orchestras until his late 70's. Among them were the Arlington Philharmonic, the Boston Bar Association Orchestra, the Harvard Musical Association Orchestra, and several chamber music groups.

Having learned to sail at the Pleon Yacht Club of Marblehead, Jim raced his 110 in the 1950's and crewed on his father's IOD in the '60's and '70's. He became a member of the Corinthian Yacht Club of Marblehead in 1966 and joined its Race Committee the following year. Except for the years 1986-89, when he served as the club's treasurer, Jim remained on the committee until 2020. He enjoyed being part of the planning and scoring of sailboat races as well as helping to run them.

After his retirement in 1995, Jim found time to volunteer at St. Joseph's Parish in Boston's West End and at Symphony Hall, where he helped for many years with the task of entering performance files into a computer database. Recently he had begun to help computerize the catalog of scores in the library of the Harvard Musical Association.

Jim enjoyed travel. In retirement, he began to make annual visits to his brother in Tokyo and frequently visited cousins on Prince Edward Island and in Colorado. He also made annual visits to Europe as part of tour groups in recent years.

Jim leaves his brothers John E. "Joe" Whipple of Marblehead and Jeremy A. (Whipple) Iwasaki of Tokyo (a naturalized Japanese citizen) and his wife Mamiko; his nephew Steven S. Whipple of Brooklyn, NY, and his wife Sharyn; cousins Jonathan B. Whipple of Iowa, Judith H. Leef of Virginia, Elizabeth and Epimenio Solano of Colorado and John Smith, also of Colorado; and several second cousins on PEI.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, July 20, at 11:00 a.m. at Our Lady Star of the Church, Atlantic Ave, Marblehead, MA. Burial will follow at Waterside Cemetery, Marblehead. Visiting hours will be on Monday, July 19, from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. also  at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church. Arrangements are made through Murphy Funeral Home, 85 Federal St., Salem MA, 01970. For more information or online guestbook please call 978-744-0497 or visit www.murphyfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers contributions in Jim's memory may be made to St. Joseph Parish (https://www.stjosephboston.org), Corinthian Sailing Foundation (www.corinthianfoundation.org), or a charity of your choice.