Kaufman

James J. "Jim" Kaufman, 54, of Washington Street, Parker, died Thursday morning at Butler Memorial Hospital after a long struggle with complications from a brain tumor.

Born April 1, 1953, in Pittsburgh, he was the son of the late John J. and Margaret Morris Kaufman.

He was a 1971 graduate of Allegheny-Clarion Valley High School and had earned a bachelor's degree in history from Grove City College in 1975.

Mr. Kaufman was a member of St. Mary, Our Lady of the Snows Roman Catholic Church in Parker.

He was a well-known local musician during the 1970s and 1980s as a singer and guitar player.

His love of fine wood working and stringed instruments led him to serve an apprenticeship in violin making under the tutelage of John S. Strauss in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the early 1980s. He returned to Parker and operated his own instrument and antique furniture repair workshop for many years before relocating to Southhampton, N.Y., where he spent 19 years continuing his singing career while working as the acting manager of Herricks, an historical multifaceted hardware store, in the upscale village of Long Island.

Mr. Kaufman's recent years were spent in Parker surrounded by his loving family.

Surviving are a daughter, Bridget Elizabeth Kaufman of Southhampton; a paternal aunt, Mary Catherine Kaufman of Parker; and the family matriarch, maternal aunt, Sister Jeanne Ellen Morris of Seaton Hill College, Greensburg. He also is survived by four sisters, Kathleen M. Kaufman of Salt Lake City, Jeanne Marie Kaufman of Pittsburgh, Madeline Havrilla and her husband, David, of Monroeville and Maggie Craig and her husband, David, of Chicora; five brothers, Thomas J. Kaufman of Rockville, Md., William J. Kaufman, Raymond J. Kaufman and his wife, Amy, and Paul J. Kaufman, all of Parker, and Edward J. Kaufman of Parker and his friend Charlene; 19 nieces and nephews, and a great-nephew, Jack.

<B>KAUFMAN </B>— A Mass of Christian burial for James J. "Jim" Kaufman, who died Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007, will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Mary, Our Lady of the Snows Roman Catholic Church, Parker, with the Rev. Joseph Bonafed officiating. Burial will follow at the Kaufman Family Cemetery at the family farm in Parker.Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the <B>Hile Funeral Home Inc.</B>, Emlenton.