James Callahan O'Dowd

James Callahan O’Dowd, 19, of Phoenix, Arizona, died June 14, 2025.

Born in Portland, Oregon, on July 3, 2005, James lived his short life bravely and on his own terms.

James will be remembered for his kindness to people and to animals. A teenager mature beyond his years in the art of conversation, James could easily connect with people of any age and background. He was curious about the world and eager to understand its mysteries. James had the gift of empathy, his soul sensitive to injustice and to the pain of others.

In 2023, James graduated from Thompson Falls High School, in Thompson Falls, Montana. As a resident of the Building Bridges program, he focused on healing his mind and his body. James created lasting impressions on other young men. He built relationships with members of the staff, offering his help in the kitchen. He started a volunteer program at the local animal shelter. After graduating, James enrolled in the CCC2NAU academic program in Flagstaff, Arizona.

James spent many memorable summers with family in Idaho. Splitting time between Cascade and Coeur d’Alene, he fostered his love of adventure and risk taking. Feeling comforted by the water, James spent long days outside with his cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. He taught himself how to wakeboard. He learned to shoot BB guns in the forest. He helped with cooking and building projects around the house. On a typical July 3rd, with the holiday fireworks already starting to crack above him, James and his family would celebrate the day he entered this world with a strawberry whipped-cream cake.

Though James struggled in the shadows of addiction, he will always be remembered as a young man who radiated light. Once, on a sweltering day in Phoenix, James saw an elderly man injured and suffering in the heat. He stopped to give the stranger water, and held his hand as they waited for help to arrive.

James will live on in the people he touched, and in those who loved him. James is survived by his mother, Linnea Brudenell; his father Timothy O’Dowd and partner Anne Chapman; sister Lila O’Dowd; paternal grandparents Peter and Mary O’Dowd and maternal grandparents, William and Ingrid Brudenell. He was a loyal cousin, a caring nephew, and a friend.

A celebration of life service will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix on June 28, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Arizona Humane Society in his name.