ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – JIM McKEAN was at the very start of his nearly 30-year career as a big league umpire when he showed the quick mind and affable nature which made him so well-liked throughout the game.

Behind the plate with big-league players for one of the first times, the specifics fuzzy of what likely was an early 1970s spring exhibition, he knew enough to know that having BOB GIBSON, the notoriously cranky star St. Louis Cardinals pitcher on the mound, was not going to be good for him.

Instead, he turned to veteran St. Louis catcher JOE TORRE for help.

“ He asked Joe to tell him if the pitches were balls or strikes,” son JAMIE McKEAN said. “ And he did.”

That story was one of many shared during funeral services Monday, and a Sunday viewing, for McKean, the longtime St. Petersburg resident who died on Thursday 24 January 2019 at age 73.

“ Dad lived a pretty incredible life, ” Jamie said during the mass at the Holy Family Catholic Church. “ It was the perfect career for him.”

Family, friends and a six-man crew of former major-league umpires were among several hundred who gathered.

Among them, former umpiring colleagues JOE BRINKMAN, JERRY CRAWFORD, RICHIE GARCIA, CHARLIE RELIFORD, STEVE RIPPLEY and LARRY YOUNG, as well as current umpire VIC CARAPAZZA, who is Garcia’s son-in-law.

Also, former big-league player, manager and now Toronto Blue Jays TV game voice BUCK MARTINEZ

Legendary National Hockey League Hall of Fame coach SCOTTY BOWMAN, a good buddy, visited with the family on Sunday.

Stories were told about some of the big games and events McKean was part of on the field including three World Series and three All-Star games, as well as the odder moments, such as when he ejected the Blue Jays mascot, BJ BIRDY, from a game, in a carreer which ended in 2001.

But also of McKean’s devotion to his family, his kindness and generosity.

How he would take Jamie and brother Brett on the road during summers, fly home between series to see them, get big leaguers to help them ( unsuccessfully ) with their skills.

How on a rare off night at home he would visit with umps working minor-league games at Al Lang Stadium, giving them advice, encouragement and some money for a good meal.

Laughs were plentiful, too, going over the steady stream of teasing McKean and the boys engaged in until the end, his rather interesting sense of fashion, his fascination with, of all things, pro wrestling.

Holy Family Reverend CRAIG MORLEY said the measure of a person is how many people they affected, and he looked out over the pews filled with doctors, lawyers, police officers, baseball personnel and more to make his point obvious.

Jamie gave a more personal example. When he and Brett were kids and went to doctors for shots, their dad would squeeze their hand so they were distracted from the discomfort.

In trying to find reason for McKean’s unexpected passing, Jamie shared Monday that he recently was diagnosed with a form of cancer, and had had surgery the day before his father died.

As concerning as that is, Jamie said he hadn’t worried a bit about his own situation: “ That was just Dad squeezing my hand one more time.”

OBITUARY -

JAMES “ JIM ” GILBERT McKEAN, a longtime resident of St. Petersburg, Florida, passed away in his sleep on 24 January 2019 at Bayfront Hospital.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on 26 May 1945, to George and Georgina McKean, Jim graduated from university and went on to become a Grey Cup winner in the Canadian Football League, as well as work as a hockey referee.

Jim then moved to the United States with his wife, Ann,  where shortly thereafter they became American citizens and Jim began his outstanding three-decade-long career as a Major League Baseball umpire.

Working three World Series, three All-Star games, and five American League Championship Series, Jim became an umpire supervisor in 2002 and, after his retirement in 2010, was an umpire analyst for ESPN.

Jim was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004, Quebec Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005, Florida State League Hall of Fame in 2018, and was the recipient of the NDG Baseball Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.

Jim enjoyed spending time with his two sons, Jamie and Brett, whom he loved dearly, playing softball, traveling with his girlfriend, Dodie, and playing with his granddaughter Harper.

He will be remembered for his generosity, kind spirit, witty sense of humor, zest for life ( and WWE wrestling ), hilarious stories, love for his family and friends, and the way he treated everyone he met with respect and decency.

To know Jim McKean was to love him.

He is survived by his two sons, Jamie and Brett, and was preceded in death by his wife, Ann, in 2007; his brother, Ian; and his parents, George and Georgina.

Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Anderson McQueen, 2201 Dr. MLK Street North, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Visitation will take place on Sunday 27 January 2019, from 6-8pm.

A funeral mass will take place at Holy Family Catholic Church, 200 78th Ave N., St. Petersburg, Florida, on Monday 28 January 2019, at 9:30am.

Burial will follow at Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA — MONDAY 28 JANUARY 2019