Wednesday 18th February 2026 Speaker: Mr Jim McBride – “My Life and Times”
The speaker on Wednesday 18th February was Club Member, Mr Jim McBride, a much-travelled native of Omagh. After leaving the C.B.S., he joined the family business, driving a delivery van for his father’s bakery. In 1964 he emigrated to America and joined his cousin in New York. However, he was soon drafted into the United States Army. Following basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, he was assigned to an administrative post in Maryland. After successfully completing a military management course, he was deployed to Vietnam.
Although serving in an administrative capacity, Jim was stationed at a base in a remote jungle location which was periodically subject to enemy attack. He spoke of the realities of military life in a conflict zone and the challenges faced by those serving far from home during a turbulent period in history.
After completing two years of service, he returned to civilian life in New York. Among other roles, he worked as a taxi driver while studying part-time for a degree in Mathematics. This was the mid-1970s, when computing was beginning to expand rapidly. Seeing an opportunity, Jim established his own computer manufacturing company and for a time encountered leading figures of the emerging industry, including Bill Gates of Microsoft and Steve Jobs of Apple.
Unable to compete with the increasingly dominant large corporations entering the field, he later joined IBM. He was working in New York on 11 September 2001 and was approximately half a mile away in the Wall Street area when the second aircraft struck the South Tower of the World Trade Centre. He recalled feeling the ground shudder at the moment of impact — an experience that left a lasting impression.
In 1999 he changed direction once again and, after undertaking an intensive Spanish course, moved to Ecuador, where he lived and worked for the next five years. During that time he visited the Galápagos Islands and the Amazon rainforest before eventually retiring to Omagh and returning to the heart of his family. His wide-ranging and engaging account of his life experiences was warmly received by members, who expressed their appreciation for a most interesting and memorable presentation.