James A. Gardner ’44

On June 17, 1996, Jim Gardner died at the Kimball Hospital in Lakewood, N.J., of pneumonia. He was 76. Jim was born in London, came to this country in his youth, and became a citizen in 1951. He prepared for Princeton at Peddie School, roomed with Dick Jones and Dick Amundsen, majored in engineering, and was a member of Key and Seal Club.

Upon graduation in 1944, Jim joined the Budd Co. and after 24 years designing and selling railway cars, joined SEPTA for the startup of the country's first automated rapid transit system and, uniquely, one using the transit cars on which he held the design patent.

Later, after moving to the Jersey shore, he worked as an environmentalist for the Navy at Lakehurst, N.J., and upon his retirement, received the Naval Engineering Center Citation and the Meritorious Civil Servant Award. Jim was an avid stamp and coin collector and enjoyed photography and travel. He battled many illnesses, chiefly cancer and collapse of his glandular system from which he was suffering when he served on the committee at our 50th reunion.

To Ruth, his wife of 52 years, his daughter, Jamie, his son, William '74, his sister, Isobel Sillix, and four grandchildren, the class extends its sympathy.

The Class of 1944