Funeral Services Friday for Former LB Port Executive

James H. McJunkin, who served as the Port of Long Beach General Manager from 1977 to 1988, died Monday, January 2.

McJunkin, 82, first joined the Port in 1963 in the Operations Division. Under his leadership, the Port of Long Beach announced Tuesday, the port became one of the largest seaports in the world and the nation’s second busiest container port. (Los Angeles, which shares the same harbor, is the largest).

After serving in the operations division, McJunkin was promoted to Assistant General Manager before succeeding Thomas J. Thorley as the Port’s top exective.

According to an obituary by the Port of Long Beach, McJunkin oversaw the development of the World Trade Center complex, and has been credited with spearheading some of the most significant trade-related projects in the region; they include the Intermodal Container Transfer Facility rail yard and the Alameda Corridor. 

McJunkin was born in Gallup, New Mexico, on January 29, 1929, and attended grade school on a Navajo reservation in Arizona. He graduated high school in Winslow, Arizona, and in 1951, McJunkin graduated from the University of Arizona, Tucson. 

After college, he joined the U.S. Navy and first saw Long Beach from the deck of a Navy hospital ship.

Prior to his time at the Long Beach Port, McJunkin was Director of the Northern California Ports and Terminals Bureau and also served as Traffic Manager for the Port of Sacramento.

After retiring from the Port of Long Beach, he worked as a consultant to the maritime industry.

McJunkin lived in Long Beach with his wife, Mary, with whom he had four children: Sarah, Martha, James and Joseph. 

According to a press release, services are scheduled for Friday, January 6, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Cornelius Catholic Church, 5500 E. Wardlow Road, Long Beach. Burial will follow at All Souls Cemetery, 4400 Cherry Ave., Long Beach.