James E. Mitchell ’64

Jim died Sept. 9, 2016, in Vassalboro, Maine, surrounded by his loving wife and family. He was 74. 

He grew up in Little Rock, Ark., and followed his father, William Mitchell ’29, to Princeton. Jim majored in the Woodrow Wilson School, joined Cap & Gown, and served as president of our class during his sophomore year. After spending a year in Beirut learning Arabic, he married the love of his life, Elizabeth Anne Harrill, in 1965. Jim and Libby raised four children, including his daughter Emily ’03. 

Jim joined the Marine Corps, served as a captain in Vietnam, and was the recipient of a Bronze Star with Combat V, denoting heroism. He then went to Yale Law School, followed by a job with the Maine governor, which took the family to Maine. 

At our 50th reunion, Jim wrote: “I never made enough to support my political habit, but I did make enough to support my wife, who became Maine’s first woman Speaker of the House and the first woman in America to be both Speaker and President of the State Senate.” 

He became a probate judge, winning the 2009 Justice Skolnik Award from the Maine Civil Liberties Union, and described himself at the time as a “radical, liberal Marine judge with conservative values!” 

Jim is survived by his loving wife, Libby; four children; and nine grandchildren. The class extends its sincere condolences to them all.