Daly takes “Command” at Grays Harbor Community Foundation

Captain James E. “Jim” Daly, USMC Retired, was selected as the new Executive Director by the Board of Directors of the Grays Harbor Community Foundation, from a field of more than six candidates.  Captain Daly will no longer be in command of 1160 troops, as he was at one point in his 22 year Marine Corps career, he will instead be solely responsible for all activities of the Grays Harbor Community Foundation, with oversight by the Board of Directors.

Jim was hired August 3, 2004 to replace Sheri Nelson, who will be returning to Sierra Pacific on August 13^th, at that helm of the $6.8 million Community Foundation.  Jim’s education, including 5 degrees, years of experience managing as many as four multi-million dollar budgets on one project, 9 years college teaching, and more than 30 years leadership experience, uniquely qualify him for this position.

His responsibilities will include counseling potential donors on Tax advantages, processing of donations as well as grant and scholarship applications, serving the board and committees, and interacting with the public, the media, applicants, and  donors interested in the Foundation.

The Grays Harbor Community Foundation is a 501(c) 3 Non-profit Organization that currently manages $6.8 million dollars in assets in several funds for a variety of charitable purposes to support the community of Grays Harbor.  There are Unrestricted Funds, Area of Interest Funds, Designated Funds, Donor Advised Funds, and Scholarship Funds that are established or can be contributed to by individuals.

Jim explained:  “If a donor has an interest in supporting the Arts, a specific charitable organization, providing scholarships for specific groups of people, or any other purpose, a fund can be found or one can be established to satisfy that desire.  The administrative details of managing these funds are then handled by the Foundation, sometimes with the active participation of the donor, to make it easy and affordable for more people to get involved in long-term philanthropy.”

The Foundation offers grants up to $5,000 to nonprofit organizations doing work in Grays Harbor County and Scholarships to graduates of high schools in Grays Harbor County and, in one case, Pacific County.  Scholarships are generally $1,000 apiece and it is expected that $59,000 will be awarded this coming year.

Jim, the son of Dr. and Mrs. John Daly, graduated from Aberdeen’s Weatherwax High School in 1970, and reported to boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego in July of that year.  From there he continued training in Aviation Electronics in Memphis, TN and then was on to his first assignment Cherry Point, NC.  After only a few months, Jim volunteered for an overseas assignment and participated in the hostilities in Viet Nam in 1972 – 73.

He returned to El Toro, California, and in August of 1973 married the former Doris Eucker after her graduation from Grays Harbor College.  They have two adult children in Grays Harbor: Andrea, a teacher in the Aberdeen School District, and Brian, an Accountant with SafeHarbor Technology Corporation.

After 10 years enlisted service, Staff Sergeant Jim was selected to participate in the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP) and in 1981 after only five quarters at the University of Utah, earned two degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Management and Bachelor of Science in Finance.  He is a member of the Beta Sigma Gamma Business Honor Society and the Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity.

Daly was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on March 19, 1981 and was trained as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer.  Among his assignments, he was the Aircraft Maintenance Officer for the FA-18 Hornet Introduction Team, where he inspected and accepted the aircraft for the USMC and the Navy’s Blue Angles.

In 1986, Captain Daly was selected to participate in another “Special Education Program”, and graduated with a Master of Science degree in Information Systems from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA in 1987.  His next assignment was to Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey as the acting Program Manager for the $260 million Position Location Reporting System (PLRS), a navigation system that is in service today in the Marine Corps, the Navy, and the Army to provide navigation throughout the world, including Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 1990 Jim became an Adjunct Professor of Information Technology at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Then on December 31, 1991 Captain Daly retired from the Marine Corps and went to work for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) and later worked for C3I Systems Group in support of U.S. Army programs at Ft. Monmouth.  For the next eight years he was deeply involved in design, testing, and development of the Internet, networks, communications systems, and command and control systems.

In 1999 he moved to San Francisco to become the Systems Manager for the U.S. Department of Labor's Regional Office supporting 5 states and three island protectorates.  He was responsible for maintenance of a network with 900 accounts and 51 sites covering the western half of the world, from Saipan to Alaska to Denver to San Diego.

Two years ago after more than 30 years away, Jim and Doris moved home to Aberdeen and live less than a mile from their childhood homes in Central Park.  Doris works in the Business Office for the Aberdeen School District and Jim has been working as a Software Test Engineer for SafeHarbor Technology Corporation.  Daly says:  “I’ve been a lot of places and done a lot of things, having visited 21 countries and lived in 7 states.  The Grays Harbor community has everything we wanted, and dollar for dollar, is the best place I have ever lived.”

Jim is not one to be idle and jumped right into the Grays Harbor community at Calvary Lutheran Church where he is a member of the choir, works on the sound system and the computers, is an usher, and maintains the church Web Site (www.calvary-lcms.org).

Daly is also the Senior Vice Commander of VFW Post #224 in Aberdeen.  Last year he was in charge of the posts three annual scholarship programs, the fishing derby at Aberdeen Lake on opening day, and still produces the quarterly newsletter.

Since returning to Aberdeen, Jim has become a hobby woodworker and is the current President of the Grays Harbor Fine Woodworking Guild that meets Tuesdays at 7:00pm at the Montesano High School. He also produces the monthly newsletter for them.

A long-time Barbershopper Jim sings Tenor for a Gospel Quartet, “Livin’ Harmony.”  They are currently on the lookout for a fourth member so they can get back to performing publicly.  Jim also loves to run and plays softball in two leagues.

As the Director of the Grays Harbor Community Foundation, Jim will conduct the day-to-day operations from their offices in the historic 7^th Street Theater building in Hoquiam.

If anyone has an interest in making a charitable contribution to support the community of Grays Harbor, all application materials and further information is available online at www.gh-cf.org or Jim may be contacted by phone at 532-1600.