James F. Healey, age 90 of Jenison, passed away on June 19, 2021. He was born in Lansing on May 15, 1931 to Russell and Nellie Healey. He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, William (1979); and sister, Elizabeth (2011). He is survived by his wife, Patricia; children Kenneth (Pamela), William (Erny), Lisa Postma (David), and Stewart. Also surviving him are his grandchildren Aubrey Healey (Tyler), Jamie Morningstar (Marc), Mark (Julia Darnton), Jodie Vander Meer (Matthew), Stefanie Dittmer (Travis), Holly Postma (Ian); and three great-grandchildren.
Jim graduated from Lansing Sexton HS in 1949 and the University of Michigan with a BS degree in electrical engineering in 1953. After graduation, Jim served in the US Army Signal Corps at Ft. Monmouth, NJ as a microwave radio instructor. While at Ft. Monmouth, Jim met the love of his life, Patricia Burocy, a school teacher from Toms River, NJ (Palmerton, PA), and they were married a year later on June 16, 1956. After his release from the army, Jim took a position with IBM, where he spent three years as a design engineer on the giant early warning computer. Leaving IBM, Jim spent six years with the missile/space programs at GE (NY) and Honeywell (MN) as a design and system engineer. He worked his final four years (1963 to 1967) at Honeywell (England - one year) and LSI (Grand Rapids - three years) as an engineer on navigation computers for fixed-wing aircraft. In 1968, Jim founded Handicomp, a company that provides computerized golf handicaps for golfers in the USA, Canada, and overseas. Jim designed and built the first computer which Handicomp used for 12 years. Reasonably inexpensive commercially available micro-computers became available in the early 1980s, and Handicomp used them from that day to the present. Jim and Pat retired from the company in the late 1990s.
Jim spent 13 years as a Little League coach and Boy Scout leader. He was involved with his church where he taught Sunday school. Jim and Pat traveled extensively with their business, and continued to travel after retirement. Many of their vacations were golf related, and they played in Scotland, Ireland, England, Portugal, Spain, Caribbean Islands, and Hawaii. One of the highlights of their traveling adventures was their CanAmAthon (2005). They played 18 holes of golf for 61 straight days. They played in all 50 states, Washington DC, and all ten Canadian provinces. They flew to Alaska and Hawaii and traveled to the other states/provinces by car (14,000 miles). They set a world record for the most consecutive rounds of golf played by two septuagenarians. Golf was Jim’s passion, having played his first round at age 13 at Sycamore Golf Course in Lansing. Jim, Pat, and their family played most of their golf at Sunnybrook Country Club where they were 47-year members.
Detroit Tiger baseball was also a great interest of Jim and Pat. In 2006, they decided to see the Tigers play in every major league stadium (29 other teams). In 2015, they visited their final twenty-ninth stadium in St. Louis.
There will be visitation from 5 - 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 24, 2021 at Cook Funeral Home (West building), 4235 Prairie St. SW, Grandville, MI 49418. A memorial service and celebration on Jim’s life will be held on 11 a.m. Friday, June 25 at the Grandville-Jenison Congregational Church, 3900 Henry St. SW, Grandville. A graveside service for the family will be held at a later date. In memory of Jim, and in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Grandville-Jenison Congregational Church. The family welcomes memories and messages in their guest book online at www.cookcaresgrandville.com.
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