There were a few names he had went by during his life; James, Jim, Dad, and Papa.
James grew up in McKinney, Texas with his father Charles Taylor (CT) Mathews, mother Leaanna Mathews along with his siblings Duane, Lynn, Ed, and Jean all of whom preceded him in passing. He lived through the Great Depression, observed the world at war during WWII, and eventually enlisted in the United States Navy in 1951 as an Engineer Mechanic during the Korean War. He served aboard the USS Yorktown CVS-10 working on the US Navy’s first successful carrier-based jet the F9F Panther.
After completing his time in the Navy, James came back home to meet the love of his life Alice Mathews. They would go on to raise three sons Don, Mike, and Ray as well as playing a large role in the lives of their many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
James continued his work in the engineering field at GEC, where he designed and built the vidicon tubes for optical sensors used by all of NASA’s unmanned space probes from the first Pioneer lunar missions all the way to Voyager 1 and 2, which are now the only human made objects to have ever left the solar system.
He was a devoted husband, kind and patient father, a loving grandfather and great-grandfather. Even if the grandkids could barely get Papa to say, “I love you”, everyone knew he did. He had many hobbies, farming, raising cattle, collecting fossils, astronomy, and studying aircraft. He shared these hobbies with the whole family. James will be missed by all, but never forgotten by anyone that knew him.
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