Jr., W. James Hynes

W. James Hynes, Jr.
November 1, 1925 - March 14, 2013

Walter James-Hynes, Jr., 87, of Topsham, Maine,-passed away Thursday, March 14, 2013.-Funeral services will be conducted 1 p.m. Saturday at Joyner-s Funeral Home.-Interment will follow in Maplewood Cemetery.-The Rev. Gary Walling will officiate.

The family will receive friends 12:30 - 1:00 p.m. prior to service at Joyner-s Funeral Home, 4100 Raleigh Road Parkway.

Jim enlisted during WWII at the age of 17 and was assigned to the 8th Army Air Corps.-Jim was stationed in Greensboro, NC, when a Greensboro College sophomore, Evelyn Wood, passed him on the street and he asked her out on a date.-They were engaged on their second date and eloped in 1946.-During their 67 years of marriage, Jim would often say, -The smartest thing I ever did was marry your mother.--His family heartily agreed.

After graduating from East Carolina University, Jim took a job in southern California in the defense industry.-For the next 40 years Jim was at the forefront of missile system and integrated combat system design; his ground-breaking projects are displayed at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.-Highlights of Jim-s career include: the Missile Defense System; guidance systems for the Gemini and Apollo space programs, and the Arleigh Burke Class destroyer.-Jim worked for General Electric, Bath Iron Works, and Litton Industries where he was appointed Vice President in charge of Shipbuilding for his role in the DDG51.-He was president of several subsidiary companies but insisted that his real title was -engineer.--Jim completed his professional tenure with Raytheon, reluctantly retiring at the mandatory age of 70.

Jim-s recreation was as vigorous as his work.-He was a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club 4,000 Footer Club.-He led the family in sailing, canoeing, and camping.-In 1972, Jim and Lyn bought a 350-acre dairy farm in Windsor, Maine.-His wife and son ran the dairy farm and added sheep, pigs and horses.-This provided Jim with non-stop projects on weekends.

A member of the Concord (NH) Aero-Guidance Society, Jim was an avid radio control airplane builder, flyer, crasher and restorer.-There was always a chainsaw in his car to cut down the offending tree that captured his planes.

Jim Hynes succumbed to Parkinson-s disease on March 14, 2013, with his family by his side.-He is survived by his better half, Lyn; his three children, Beverly, Nancy and her husband, Daniel and James III and his wife, Lisa; and his four grandchildren, Matthew, Katharine, Evelyn, and James.-/p>

He was preceded in death by his grandson, David and his parents, Walter James Hynes and Paula Alvine Yunkes.