Sunday, August 28, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

'Epitome of a Marine' mourned

Reno man recalled as peacemaker

James J. Cathey Jr. 24-year-old Marine from Reno died Aug. 21 in explosion near Karmah, Iraq A U.S. Marine color guard carries the flag-draped casket of 2nd Lt. James J. Cathey out of St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno following a funeral Mass on Saturday morning. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARSON CITY -- During an emotional funeral Mass on Saturday, fallen U.S. Marine 2nd Lt. James J. Cathey Jr. was called a peacemaker who gave his life to help rid the world of terrorism.

The Rev. Tom Czack told a weeping crowd of 250 at St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral that Cathey's life has not ended, merely changed.

Many of the mourners were young people, including more than a dozen Marines in uniform.

Czack said the time will come when all people will see God and "violence will be gone."

Cathey, 24, of Reno, died Aug. 21 of injuries caused by an improvised explosive device during combat operations near Karmah, Iraq. He had been in Iraq since July 25.

Cathey was the 23rd person with Nevada connections to die in U.S. military zones since Sept. 11, 2001.

"Jesus was there for James, to wipe away the tears, wipe away the pain," Czack told the mourners.

Czack acknowledged how difficult it is to understand the injustice of dying so young. It becomes a matter of "trusting in faith" and believing that salvation will come, he said.

The burial is scheduled to take place Monday in the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Ceremony in Fernley.

During the funeral Mass, Cathey's mother, Carolyn, talked of the great joy her son brought her and her husband, Jeffrey.

"He could light up a room," she said. "Those blue eyes."

Her son tried to succeed in life to please his parents, she said, adding that she and her husband are so proud of him.

Cathey's sister, Joyce, a University of Illinois student, had her brother's image tattooed on the back of her neck after hearing of his death.

Other survivors include Cathey's pregnant wife, Katherine, and his 9-year-old daughter, Casey, of Carson City. The couple met in Colorado in June 2004.

Earlier in the week, Carolyn Cathey described her son as someone who had wanted to be a Marine since the fourth grade and might have realized that he one day would give his life for his country.

"He wanted to be a general," Carolyn Cathey said. "The Marines were his world. He was the epitome of a Marine."

He enlisted in the Marines at age 17 after graduating from Reno High School in 1998. The Marines paid his way through the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he graduated last year with bachelor's degrees in history and anthropology.

As a child, Cathey loved to hunt and fish, practice karate and play Little League baseball.

Family friend Tara Uhart summed up the feelings of many in attendance at the service.

"He was a wonderful, wonderful boy," she said following the funeral. "He was everything you would want your kid to be."