James E. Cornell

James Cornell, better known as Jim, or Gator to some of you, was a resident of Brevard County for nearly 70 years. Originally from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Jim was an enthusiastic Florida outdoorsman, brought here by the United States Air Force to work on various missile programs and retained here by the many hunting and fishing opportunities that were so abundant.

For a Yankee, Jim fit into the Florida scene just fine. He was involved in many of the things we are proud of here in Brevard County, like working with Buddy Rogers on the Space program, including the Lark, the Matador, the Snark, the Scout, and even the Apollo programs on which he worked quality control.

After leaving the Air Force and the Cape, Jim went to work for Pittsburgh Testing Lab testing concrete and asphalt roads, and ended up managing the local lab for Atec Testing Lab. Testing roads also led Jim to meet Greg Lancaster with whom he developed very nice dove field in one of the cow pastures and a long friendship.

As an avid hunter, Jim took to the marsh and all its special wildlife like a native. Through the 1950’s and 1960’s he gigged frogs, hunted gators and shot many deer and turkeys. He was also a fishing guide on Lake Washington. Hunting and fishing were special to Jim, and he and Anita enjoyed his favorite sports with many friends in many locations over the last 40 years. In fact, he was in the woods right up to December of last year.

In the late-70’s, Jim needed to move some cows from Holopaw to Malabar and was lucky enough to be introduced to Roy Cox. Roy helped Jim move his cows and they ended up in partnership together. The dramas of the cattle business over the years saw many friends lend a hand on big cow-working days. Ronnie McLellan even shared his pasture with Jim when he was in a bind.

Jim had two children, a daughter Paula Jean, and a son James Randall; 4 grandsons: Lorne, Jody, Ross, and Justin; a granddaughter, Trisha; and 11 great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family would like donations to be made to St. Jude: https://www.stjude.org/