[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. James Patrick Mauney was born in Paris, Tennesse on Dec. 7, 1942, at his mother’s home, on the first anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, and died on May 19, 2023, in Rhinebeck, New York, having lived a rich and full life in between, accompanied by Mardi, the great love and sustainer of his life for 57 years. His parents were Eleanor Caroline Davis and James Buford Mauney. His upbringing was in South Carolina, where he attended public schools. Four years as a Navy officer followed after earning his bachelor’s degree in history from Duke University in 1965.

Mauney was chief engineer on the U.S.S. Harnett County (LST 821) in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam in the year 1967-1968. The experience of war was sobering and eye-opening – a life lesson in waste and destruction, he said.

Most of Mauney’s professional life was spent in The Episcopal Church, first as a seminarian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the Episcopal Theological School, where he received a Master of Divinity “With Distinction.” Upon graduation and ordination at St. John’s Cathedral in Providence, Rhode Island, he served as an assistant priest at St. Paul’s Church in Wickford and St. Martin’s Church in Providence.  He and Mardie and their son Peter then moved to Brazil for five years where he pastored the chapel of Santo André in Campinas and taught English and theology in Campinas and São Paulo. He spent the remainder of his career—some 20 years–in New York City as an executive in the international offices of The Episcopal Church.

Over the course of his life, Mauney lived in or visited over 100 countries and territories.

In addition to Mardi, he is survived by son Pete, daughter-in-law Laura Gail Tyler, and granddaughters Sydney and Clara. He is also survived by a sister, Judith Urso of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

Mauney took great pleasure in his animal companions over the years, including Tasha, a Siberian Husky, and cats Nêgo and Mia. He had many interests apart from his professional life. He earned a certificate in field botany from the New York Botanical Garden and volunteered for years as a conservationist at the New England Wild Flower Society. He also served for some years as a docent at Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts, with a particular interest in the rhododendron collections. Mauney was a stamp collector and collected widely. The walls of the houses he inhabited were filled with books reflecting his interests.

There will be no public funeral.

Arrangements are under the care of Burnett & White Funeral Home, 91 E. Market St. Rhinebeck, New York.