James C. Gartin ’54

Jim died May 3, 2024.

He prepared at Albany Academy and was active in football, track, and publications.

At Princeton, Jim majored in mechanical engineering. He joined Campus Club and rowed freshman, JV, and varsity heavyweight crew.

He served in the Army for two years. Before joining General Electric and occasionally thereafter, he worked as a guide in Alaska while pursuing his lifetime hobbies of hunting and wildlife photography. His activity in Alaska was detailed in a chapter of Jim Woolworth’s book The Kodiak Bear: Alaskan Adventure.

At General Electric, Jim worked for five years as an engineer at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory and then for 30 years as manager of gas turbine controls in Lynn, Mass., and in Schenectady, N.Y. He enjoyed traveling extensively while installing and upgrading turbine control systems worldwide. While working at General Electric, Jim earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Union College in 1967.

A fourth-generation artist, in 1975 Jim was among the first students to study the lost wax bronze casting process at Seward Johnson’s atelier in New Jersey. Over the next 50 years, Jim went on to create and sell dozens of spectacular bronze wildlife sculptures inspired by his time in Alaska and the Adirondacks (www.jimgartin.com).

Jim is survived by his nephew, James W. Gilbert.