Thursday, March 11, 2010
Dear Tennies family,Following is a tribute to Jim which was sent to all of his Jamestown Plastics family yesterday. In addition, I read it last night prior to our moment of silence during our Chautauqua Lake School Board meeting. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.Last night the Jamestown Plastics family lost one of our own. I came to know Jim through our mutual service on the founding school board of Chatauqua Lake Central School. Jim and I, along with the other 5 members of that board spent countless hours in meetings where we had to literally "chart our course for the future." During that time Jim became a very dear friend and confidant. His years of experience and sincere love of children and education was expressed countless times when we were faced with tough decisions, as he would say, sometimes quietly, sometimes in exasperation, but always with conviction, "We must do what is best for the children!"After Jim retired from his long career as a Mechanical Engineer he started to "moonlight" for Jamestown Plastics and very quickly was loved by another group of people whose lives will be forever enriched through the privilege of having him in our family. Jim possessed a mind which was literally brilliant, as anyone who knew him will attest to. He would amaze our younger engineers, and they were all younger for as Jim would frequently say, "I'm older than dirt", with instant recall of theorems, equations, and factoids faster than any of the younger set could even begin typing the question into Google. Oh and he was never wrong. People of Jim's brilliance frequently have a hard time interacting, especially in the field where they are most gifted, with those not so blessed with intellect. This was never the case with Jim, he was always first and foremost a teacher, a role he revered and was revered for by those he patiently taught. You don't replace a Jim in your life, but you can partially fill the void with all of the fond recollections of his words of wisdom, guidance, and humor. We love you Jim.
