Averill Park - James MacChesney Cluett, 76, died peacefully in his home after a long struggle with Parkinson’s. He was surrounded by his family and friends who lovingly cared for him.
Born in Lansing, MI, he was the son of the late Albert E. Cluett, Jr. and Jeanne L. MacChesney Cluett. Jim moved to Troy, with his family at the age of 8. He attended high school at the Northwood School in Lake Placid, where he was an active ski racer, hockey and tennis player. He graduated from Bryant College in Providence, RI with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Throughout his college career he continued to play hockey.
He served in the Army National Guard from 1968 to 1973 as a 2nd Lieutenant. He began his long career in real estate development. Jim started his career at Marine Midland Bank and eventually accepted a position with National Housing Partnership in Washington, DC. After starting his own company, JMC Realty in the late 90’s, he retired in 2007.
Jim was a member of First United Presbyterian Church in Troy, where he served as an Elder and Trustee. When the family moved to Virginia in 1984, Jim became a member and served as a Trustee at Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA. In the late nineties, he volunteered to be part of a faith based mission trip to Eastern Europe that made an everlasting impact on him.
Jim was a father first and foremost, but also an incredible friend. Everything he did was to encourage and support everyone around him in any way he could, including hours in skating rinks and on lacrosse fields. He often put others needs before his own. He loved all kinds of sports, especially tennis. If he wasn’t actually attending tennis matches and football or hockey games he was certainly watching them. But among all of his loves, his true passion was the ocean. He especially loved East Orleans in Cape Cod. He was an avid, albeit not always successful, boatsman. He was in his element and at his happiest when he was sailing his Sunfish or cruising the bay in his Boston Whaler. The stories of Jim and the many calls to the Coast Guard will live on for generations. Jim was also known for his practical jokes and devious pranks. Jim was energetic and full of life, especially as a kid and young adult. He lived to bring happiness and laughter to others. He will be greatly missed and we are so fortunate for the man he was to each of us. Stories keep coming in of small acts of kindness he did for others throughout his life; stories that he never boasted nor talked about. We know he is playing hockey and making the Lord laugh in Heaven.
Survivors include his two children, Jennifer (Simon) Jeffery, Crested Butte, CO and David (Kelly) Cluett, Averill Park; his former wife, Susan Bryce Cluett; his grandchildren, Merrick Victor, Tyler James and Evelyn June Jeffery and Haylee MacChesney, Landon John, and Jacob Merrick Cluett; his siblings, Albert E. (Lynn) Cluett, III and Sandra "Dee Dee" Cluett; his nieces and nephews, Peter (Jennifer) Cluett IV., Elizabeth (Timothy) Hall, Timothy (Cindy) Cluett, Sarah (Ryan) Pavicic, Christen Bryce, Lindsey (Joe) Bergen, Jon (Katie) Bryce, and Rachel (Andrew Bouteiller) Bryce, and many great nieces and nephews.
Relatives and friends may call at the Bryce Funeral Home, Inc. 276 Pawling Avenue Troy on Friday, March 4, 2022 from 4 - 6PM with a service to follow at 6PM.
In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in memory of James MacChesney Cluett to The Community Hospice (Gift Processing Center) 310 S. Manning Blvd. Albany, NY 12208.
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of James MacChesney Cluett, please visit our floral store.