James Fielding Buchanon

James Fielding Buchanon, life-long partner to Marilyn Fries, passed away on December 20th, 2021 at the age of 84. Jim was born in Cullman, Alabama on February 20th 1937, the only child to Dewey and Evelyn Buchanon. He was a graduate of Cullman City High School. For his college education he initially attended St. Bernard Junior College, and later graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He was also a proud member of the oldest engineering honor society in the United States, the prestigious Tau Beta Pi.

Shortly after his college graduation, Jim was hired by Lockheed Martin which brought him to Southern California, where he would reside for the next 60+ years. This also led to Jim meeting an elementary school teacher, named Marilyn Fries, with whom he spent the rest of his life.

After a few years of working at Lockheed Martin, he would later be hired by Ford Aerospace to work on a number of sensitive and prestigious projects ranging from the supervising helicopter metal planking replacements of military aircraft, as a civilian contractor in Vietnam to the design and performance enhancement of missiles. Although the work was plentiful and hard, Jim loved it all and took pride in his work, sharing his stories (that weren’t classified) with close friends.

Through the hard work, Jim would still find time to hone his adventurous hobbies and activities in the air, on land, and at sea. Some of his favorites included piloting his own small plane to Catalina to enjoying breakfast, sailing (and crewing) the Ensenada Races, skiing the slopes of Mammoth with the Aeron Ski Club, flying stunt kites, scuba diving off Laguna Beach, playing tennis, flying remote control airplanes, tinkering with his computers, cooking, collecting antiques, and even skateboarding. But perhaps Marilyn’s favorite, was a jewelry-making class he took where he lovingly handcrafted gold pieces for her.

When he wasn’t thrill-seeking, he could be found taking his two dogs, Templar and Wiley hunting and participating in Field Trials, going to Ruebens for end-of-day drinks, enjoying quieter times at the end of the day at home, reading a good book, and of course, spending time with Marilyn.

While in retirement, he and Marilyn became avid travelers, throughout the U.S and Europe – but to him, nothing would compare to watching the sunsets in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and Yachats, Oregon.

Jim is survived by his loving partner of more than 50 years, Marilyn Fries; cousins: Betty, Craig, Gwen, Vickie and many very close friends in California, Oregon, Alabama, and Hawaii.

A graveside service for Jim will be held Friday, January 14, 2022 at 3:00 PM at Cullman City Cemetery, 812 9th Ave SW, Cullman, Alabama 35055.

As he wished, he will be interred in Cullman, Alabama. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to ASPCA (www.aspca.org) or your favorite organization.