James Daniel McHugh, a Baltimore County educator for 35 years who was active in church work, died Friday of pneumonia at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 63.
Mr. McHugh, who lived in Baltimore's Hamilton section, was a reading specialist at Holabird Middle School in Dundalk at his retirement in 1991.
Earlier he taught at Golden Ring Junior High, Hawthorne Elementary, Dundalk High and Grange Elementary. For 14 years he was involved in Mobile On Site Training helping fellow teachers implement reading programs.
In the 1970s, he taught night classes at Loyola College.
Affectionately known as "Grandpop Jim" by many of the children in his Hamilton neighborhood, Mr. McHugh often treated area youngsters to Popsicles and ice cream.
"He was a dad to everybody," said his daughter Patricia McHugh of Baltimore.
Mr. McHugh helped organize the parish council at St. Clare's Roman Catholic Church in Essex, where he was a member from 1959 to about 1970. He was a member of the church's Holy Name Society and directed its high school Confraternity of Christian Doctrine program.
At St. Dominic's Roman Catholic Church in Hamilton, where he was a member for the past 24 years, he served on the parish council and was active in the adult education CCD program.
A native of Hazelton, Pa., Mr. McHugh was a graduate of Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and earned a master's degree from Loyola College. He moved to Baltimore in 1959.
During the Korean War, he served in the Army and was stationed in Germany.
He was a member of the American Legion in Parkville, the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic War Veterans and the Democratic Club in Overlea. A Mass of Christian burial was to be offered at 9:30 a.m. today at St. Dominic's, 5310 Harford Road.
In addition to his daughter, he is survived by his wife of 36 years, the former Theresa M. Cauley; three other daughters, Kathleen McHugh Rouse of Baltimore, Theresa Ellis of Darlington and Jeanne McHugh of Chicago; a son, James J. McHugh of Mountain View, Calif.; three sisters, Mary Hill, Eileen Flaim and Ann Shane, all of Hazelton; three brothers, John McHugh of Elizabethtown, N.J., and Daniel and Eugene McHugh of Hazelton; and a granddaughter, Camila Marie McHugh.
The family suggested donations to Good Samaritan Hospital, Critical Care Unit Development Office, 5601 Loch Raven Blvd., Baltimore 21239.