Tom McCaffrey lived Jesus’ admonition about serving the poor.
And in the last weeks of his life he reminded his family he wanted the verse from the Bible’s Book of Matthew to be read at his funeral: “Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these you have done it unto me.”
McCaffrey, who died May 8 at his Arapahoe County home at age 73, was a dedicated volunteer with the poor as well as an attorney in Denver. He had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
He and his wife, Dorothy McCaffrey, volunteered every Thursday night for 15 years serving food to the poor at the Broadway Assistance Center, 605 W. Sixth Ave.
They became friends with many of the poor, and some came to his funeral.
“He always treated them with respect,” his wife said.
“He always said, ‘It’s not for me to question how they got here,”‘ said his daughter, Kathy Nahman of Mountain View, Calif.
Said his son, Thomas P. McCaffrey of Parker, “The generosity piece of him was the greatest.”
McCaffrey was also involved in helping start Father Woody’s Haven of Hope, named for the late Rev. C.B. Woodrich, who had helped open Samaritan Shelter in downtown Denver.
McCaffrey did legal work for free and helped in planning the haven.
Haven of Hope, sponsored by the Franciscan Friends of the Poor, will offer lunch, counseling, showers and employment help. It opens next month at 707 Lipan St.
Thomas M. McCaffrey was born in Denver on July 2, 1933, graduated from St. Francis High School and earned a degree in English literature from the University of Colorado. He planned to be a school teacher.
He served as a Morse code radio man in the Coast Guard during the Korean War.
He married Dorothy Ann O’Toole on Sept. 6, 1958.
“I always wanted to marry a lawyer,” said Dorothy McCaffrey, and with “some pushing,” she persuaded her husband to enroll in law school after they had started their family.
He earned his law degree at the University of Denver.
He worked as a claims adjustor for Continental Casualty Co., had a private practice and was general counsel for Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, an electric utility supply company.
Nahman said her father was “too soft-hearted” to be in private practice because he became friends with clients and didn’t want to charge them.
In addition to his wife, son and daughter, he is survived by another daughter, Diane M. Grierson of Centennial; another son, Terrence McCaffrey, of Denver; and seven grandchildren.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at vculver@denverpost.com or 303-954-1223.
