This biography was written by Beth (Kenure) Powell, one of Jim's two daughters. Somehow through good fortune, Beth discovered our website and was able to establish contact with the class through Bob Zdunczyk, Ginny Hill Noel and Joe Dellaquila. She said in her letter to us that she feels very fortunate to have connected with her father's friends and that she wants to share with us the highlights of his life without sounding too 'past-tense' because his spirit is very much alive and constantly in her sister's thoughts and her thoughts as well. The following are Beth's words... 

After high school, my father joined the Army. He traveled extensively throughout Europe and often recounted his Army days in great detail. He loved Germany and went back for visits after leaving the Army. 
 

After the Army, he met and married my mother, Barbara Pia from Torrington, Connecticut in 1966. My sister, Lauren, was born in 1967 and I was born in 1970. He held various jobs before he found his 'niche' and worked as a Project Engineer for the Torrington Company. 

In 1978, my father was offered a wonderful opportunity by the Torrington Company (although it did not seem wonderful to us at the time) to move to a small town in south Georgia where the company was opening a new facility. He jumped at the opportunity and the four of us moved to Georgia. It was a huge adjustment for all of us, but we eventually adapted to our new southern life. 

Unfortunately, my parents divorced in 1985. There was not a specific reason why - just two people going in opposite directions. He battled a brief bout with skin cancer in 1987, but was cleared after several radiation treatments. My father left the Torrington Company around 1989 to pursue a similar career, just on his own.

He re-married in 1991 to Gloria Fordham, a Georgia native. A wonderful woman with whom my sister and I are still very close. In early 1994, he started experiencing back problems, but attributed it to age and a golf over-swing. An x-ray revealed a mass on his spine, thought to be a fluid pocket. Surgery was scheduled to remove the fluid. It was during surgery that the fluid actually turned out to be a tumor. A malignant tumor, thought to have originated from his 1987 skin cancer. He saw the most experienced doctors in the country over the next few months and tried every type of treatment offered, even experimental, to try to beat the cancer. But it was just too aggressive and he passed away in July 1994.

He loved sports - especially golf and skiing. Did I mention golf? He lived to play golf? In the early 1990's, he founded and hosted an annual Christmas charity golf tournament and was very proud of how much the tournament grew each year. Proceeds from the tournament benefited a local home for runaway teenage boys. He tried to get to Colorado at least once a year to ski. He loved the beach and would schedule a family vacation every summer on the beach. His two golden retrievers were his pride and joy.

He had many friends, most of who still write or call me just to touch base or reminisce about him. He was just one of those people that commanded a room when he entered. You either loved him or hated him - there was no in between. He was very charming, stubborn, and opinionated - all rolled together with a sensitive side. He loved to dance, listen to oldies or jazz, and thought of himself as a wine connoisseur (but he really wasn't). 

He loved classic TV, especially Abbott & Costello, the Honeymooners - but The Three Stooges was his favorite. He spoke often of his high school days and all of the fond memories he had during that period of his life. One of his flaws was that he loved to reminisce and spoke in endless details about his high school days, but failed to keep in touch with those he often spoke of. He was a wonderful father and treated my sister and I like queens. He was a very involved father (sometimes too involved) but I cherish the memories we had with him. He now has two grandsons, Dillon and Derek, that he never got to see - but they certainly know about him. We all miss him terribly.