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A valued member of the Gold Coast, Beaudesert and Toowoomba Communities.
Devoted Husband of Kay (dec).
Much loved Father and Father-in-law of Jennifer( Hooper) and Graham,
Peter (Callaghan) and Mara.
Loving and proud Grandfather of, Jessica, Breanna, Olivia and Leo.
Adoring Great-Grandfather of Hudson.
Brother, Brother-in -law, Uncle and Great Uncle of Jan and John (Healy)
Peter, Karen and Josh.
Jim's life will be privately celebrated by family in accordance with his wishes.
Forever in our hearts.
TRIBUTE from Paul Steer (partner KPMG 1986 -2015)
It is difficult to put a timeline to Jim’s professional life, as we were not around when it started and even when he retired, he did not retire!
In 1959 Jim joined White and Hancock Chartered Accountants in Brisbane and moved to their Gold Coast office around 1962. In 1968 Jim, with John Cressey, formed Cressey Callaghan & Associates based in Surfers Paradise. This became the largest accountancy firm on the Gold Coast in the 1960’s.
Jim then established his sole practitioner firm in 1979 - JJ Callaghan at Southport. Peat Marwick needed a prominent local identity for their Gold Coast office and acquired JJ Callaghan in 1984. Jim remained as a salaried partner. The firm then underwent a series of mergers resulting in the KPMG of today, which has been based at the Corporate Centre Bundall since 1990. At that time there were 92 staff, 20 shared PCs and KPMG was twice the size of the next largest firm on the Gold Coast. Jim was a very steadying influence over the new firm's 7 partners, who had a wide variety of skills and personalities. KPMG on the Gold Coast now has 110 staff with annual revenues of over $10m.
Jim retired as partner in 1992 but remained an important part of the office for the following 15 years. He was always keen to see how his clients were going, with many of them still on the books. Many staff also spent their working careers with Jim, such as Desley Logan (from 1954) and Val Owens (from 1960). Jim was seen as one of the last 'gentleman' Chartered Accountants, with a broad skill base to readily transcend all industries and service offerings:
Jim had a passion for racing, more to do with the horses and people as opposed to wagering. He was engaged with Gold Coast Turf Club for over 35 years and knew all the Chairmen on a personal level. They always sought Jim's sound advice as the Club grew from a small country town club to a major provincial race Club in Australia.
Over his career Jim saw the enormous growth of the Gold Coast and the firm that he was instrumental in forming. We were fortunate enough in July 2022 to celebrate 65 years of KPMG on the Gold Coast, and Jim was a big part of this family. It was great to see Jim then and he took centre stage as the elder statesman.
The legacy Jim contributed to is more than memories, it is the careers and families of the current and past. The Callaghan family can be very proud of Jim’s professional life.
