James Alva Madison of Grand Prairie, Texas passed away on January 8, 2021 at Medical City of Arlington. He was born May 5, 1941 in St. Joseph, Missouri, to the late Earnest Leroy and Irene Marie Johnson Madison. He spent eight years of his life in Oakland, California, before the family relocated to Baltimore, Maryland. He grew up in Parkville, Maryland.
James was an active member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Parkville and held jobs as a delivery boy for the Baltimore Sun Newspaper and drove an ice cream truck during his teen years. He graduated from Parkville Senior High in 1959. James received both his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
After college he worked as a technical writer for Collins Radio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for two years. He returned to Maryland and worked first as a technical writer and then as a reliability engineer for Westinghouse Defense Corp. For eight years he worked as a reliability engineer in the field of electromagnetic capability for the Illinois Institute of Technology (IITRI) at the Annapolis Naval Base. James returned to Westinghouse in 1976 and worked there until 1991. Following a major cutback at Westinghouse in 1991, he took a job with Loral Aerospace working with he space station program at eh Jonson Space Center in Houston before coming to Grand Prairie as a Loral employee in 1995. Loral sold out to Lockheed from which he retired in 2010.
In addition to his parents, Jim was preceded in death by an infant son and infant daughter at birth and by his son Stephen in 2019.
He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Beverly Madison; daughter, Amy Resendiz of Grand Prairie; three grandchildren: Tyler Madison, Daisha Resendiz, Sergio Casillas Jr.; great-grandson, Aiden Resendiz; brother, David Madison and his wife, Leslie of Severna Park, Maryland; sister, Julie Conlon and her husband, Phil of West Lafayette, Indiana; brother-in-law, Johnny Jones and his wife, Betty of Balsam, North Carolina; sister-in-law, Doris Williams of Centerville, Maryland and several nieces and nephews.
He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Grand Prairie. Arrangements have not been finalized due to the current restrictions on assemblies.
In lieu of flowers please make donations to First Presbyterian Church, 310 SW 3rd Street, Grand Prairie, Texas 75051 or to a charity of your choice.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.8.18