By the family

May 26, 2026: James Peale, 92, died at his home in Bronxville, New York on April 29, 2026 following a brief period of illness.

Jim was born in Ardmore, Pennsylvania on February 7, 1934, the son of Philadelphia natives James Ogelsby Peale and Ria Longwell Peale. He grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey with his older sisters Trish (Jocelyn Parker) and Jill (Jenifer Peale) and spent his family vacations on Long Beach Island.

Jim graduated from Harvard College in 1955 with an AB, magna cum laude, in economics, Phi Beta Kappa, and spent the following year on a Fulbright scholarship to Cologne, Germany. In 1957 Jim joined the U.S. Navy, where he served as a disbursing officer on Mine Squadron Eight in the Mediterranean before his discharge in 1960 at the rank of Lieutenant JGSC.

Jim joined Irving Trust Company in New York in 1960, where he spent 28 years in international banking and foreign investments. He retired from the Bank of New York in 1989 as Senior Vice President and Manager of the European Division. Subsequently Jim served as the CFO of Dominican College in Orangeburg, New York before retiring again in 1995.

Jim and his family were direct descendants of American painters Charles Willson Peale and his brother James Peale, a connection that inspired Jim’s lifelong interest in their roles in American art history.

Jim married Jean Darling in 1965 at her home in Bronxville, New York. They lived in New York City where they had their daughter Frances and their son James. They moved for a banking assignment to Melbourne, Australia, where they had their daughter Christie. Upon returning in 
1972, Jim and Jean moved with their family to Bronxville. Jim and Jean were active members of the Bronxville Field Club, where Jim remained engaged as a tennis, paddle, and pickleball player through the years, and as a dedicated gym user until 2025.

Jim and Jean’s home was the scene of many family weddings, memorial services, anniversary picnics, and reunions through the years.  

When not in Bronxville, Jim could often be found in Greensboro, Vermont, where he would enjoy tennis at Mountain View Country Club, swimming in and kayaking on Caspian Lake, hiking, carpentry projects, sunsets and grilling, and open skies filled with stars, the possibility of 
a meteor shower, and the certainty of an eclipse. Jim learned to love winter sports in Vermont, taking up cross country skiing and ice skating as an adult. Jim and Jean purchased and renovated a historic one-room schoolhouse in nearby Hardwick, Vermont, transforming it into a ski house for family trips from New York. 

Jim loved to travel. He visited all 50 states, and almost 40 countries in the world, including yearly trips to Melaque, Mexico through 2025, and a bucket-list hike on Hadrian’s Wall in 2018. He spoke German, French, some Italian, and enough Spanish to order a margarita without salt. 
He had an amazing memory for poetry and songs, and a true love for advanced mathematics and number theory. Jim solved (in ink!) the New York Times crossword puzzle and KenKens daily until his last weeks.

Jim is survived by his daughter Frances (Chevy Chase, MD), her husband Kevin, and their three children, by his son James (Portland, OR), his wife Julie, and their two children, and by his daughter Christie (New York, NY), her husband Sean, and their two children. He was predeceased by his wife Jean, who died in 2002. A burial service is planned for the summer in Vermont, with a memorial service in New York in the fall. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations in Jim’s memory to Copley Hospital (www.copleyvt.org), to Vermont Public Radio www.vermontpublic.org), and to Vermont Foodbank (www.vtfoodbank.org).