Jim McNulty, past president of the Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) and more recently the owner of Lone Star Auto Auction in Lubbock, Texas, passed away on March 9, 2017, from complications of esophageal cancer.

He was 71.

McNulty began his fleet career at Apple Chevrolet in Chicago in the early 1980s and later at a Dodge dealership in Des Plaines, Ill. He was an active member of AFLA and served as the association’s president from 1994-1995.

In the early 1990s, McNulty met his future wife Billy June (BJ) Martin-West, who founded Lone Star Auto Auction in 1988. They were married on March 10, 1993 in Hawaii and McNulty moved to Texas. Together they co-owned and operated the seven-lane Lone Star Auto Auction and other automotive operations in Lubbock. BJ passed away in 2006 at the age of 58.

McNulty continued as the owner of the auction until it was sold to the XLerate Group on Dec. 1, 2016. Following the sale to the XLerate Group, McNulty retired from the auction business. The management of Lone Star Auto Auction was taken over by McNulty’s general manager Dale Martin, his brother-in-law, who will operate under the new ownership by the XLerate Group.

In his free time, McNulty was an avid horseman and a team roper. In addition, McNulty was a military veteran and served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.

He is survived by his children, Kelly McNulty-Eig and James Patrick McNulty III.