James Crawford Ternahan

Mr. Ternahan was a professsional engineer.

Survivors include one son, Michael of Campbell, Calif.; three daughters, Patricia Ternahan of Oakland, Calif., Kathleen Howlett of Grand Junction and Kristine Ducote of Gonzales, La.; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

James C. Ternahan

1924 - 2014

James C. Ternahan, Jr., a proud native and long-time resident of Grand Junction and descendant of a pioneer Colorado family of ranchers and miners, died here after a long illness Sunday. He was 89.

From 1951, when he graduated as a metallurgical engineer from the Colorado School of Mines, to which he devoted life-long support, until 1960, he was an engineer and mine and construction superintendent for mining enterprises in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.

In the succeeding 18 years, he was with Varian Associates in San Jose, CA, one of the original high-tech firms in Silicon Valley, first as a process/production engineer, then as comptroller and senior financial analyst for a Varian division.

After his job was phased out at Varian, he was engaged in real estate, insurance and property management in Grand Junction.

As a young man, he had also been trained in aeronautical engineering at the Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in Glendale, CA., and had served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, now the U.S. Air Force, in World War II.

The son of James C. and Viola (Watson) Ternahan, Jim Ternahan traced his Colorado roots back to his Irish immigrant great-grandfather, John Ternahan, who with his son, William, established a large cattle and sheep ranch on Purdy Mesa near Whitewater in 1890. John Ternahan created two lakes on his ranch that later became part of the domestic water supply for Grand Junction. He died here in 1915.

In 1947, while still a student at the School of Mines, Jim Ternahan married the former Laura McMullen, who died in 2012. Together they had five children, one of whom, Paul, died in infancy.

Four children, Patricia Ternahan of Oakland, CA; Kathleen L. Howlett of Grand Junction; Michael J. Ternahan of San Jose, CA, and Kristine M. Ducote of Gonzalez, LA; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren survive him.

Arrangements for a memorial service are pending.

Memorial contributions may be made in Jim Ternahan's name to HopeWest Hospice, 3090B North 12th Street, Grand Junction, CO 81506 or to the Colorado School of Mines Foundation, Inc., PO Box 912031, Denver, CO 80291-2031.

Published in The Daily Sentinel on Apr. 20, 2014