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Jim was born on the outskirts of New Boston, Illinois, a small Mississippi river town. He grew up on family farms and attended schools throughout Mercer County. His father, who did not have the opportunity to finish high school, pushed him toward a college education. In 1957 he left for Carthage College and never looked back. Mathematics and science education got him into the U.S. Air Force as an electronics systems officer during the Cold War and Vietnam Conflict. The Air Force Institute of Technology program at Widener University provided Jim education and degrees in electrical engineering and system engineering. Upon retirement in 1982 he followed a lifetime dream of working with NASA manned space flight programs. Jim enjoyed 19 years as an aerospace engineer with Space Shuttle and Space Station contractors for the NASA launch complex in Florida. In retirement he focused on family genealogy to write of two great grand uncles' service and death in the Civil War.