James Noble Binns

James Noble Binns Feb. 19, 1919 - Mar. 24, 2006 Legacy.com James Noble Binns, 87, passed away March 24, 2006 at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. He was born on February 19, 1919 in Salida, Colorado to Samuel Allison Binns and Mabel Mary Robinson Binns. He graduated from Salida High School and the University of Denver with a degree in Business. In his youth, he loved to hunt and fish in the Rocky Mountains. Music was a large part of his life. He played the trumpet in the high school band and played in his brother's dance band. Later he took piano and organ lessons and was constantly whistling or singing to himself. He was an avid reader especially Westerns and loved to travel and sample local, regional, and international foods. Upon graduation from college in 1942, he entered the Navy Air Corp and served as a pilot instructor at Kingsville and Corpus Christi, Texas. Then he flew transport planes from the South Pacific Islands carrying the wounded to Honolulu and then to Alameda. Ca. In 1945, he and his wife, Ann Travers Binns, transferred to Patuxent River, Md. where he flew the Navy Brass from Washington D.C. to the newly formed United Nations in San Francisco. Upon his honorable discharge in 1946 as a Lieutenant, he and Ann moved to Bakersfield where he joined his uncle, Harry Binns, in the plumbing business. When he founded J. Noble Binns Plumbing, he was known around town as "The World's Greatest Plumber." He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, American Legion, and Rotary. As a member of the East Bakersfield Progressive Club, he volunteered his shop for the coloring of thousands of eggs for the annual community Easter Egg Hunt held at Heritage Park. He and Ann recently celebrated 60 years of marriage. Preceding him in death were his parents, two brothers, Herbert and Allison Binns, and a sister Beulah Baker. He is survived by his wife, Ann Binns, three children, Linda Monteith and her husband Geoff, Janet Merrell and her husband Larry, Bruce Binns and his wife Pam, 6 Grandsons, Michael, Scott, Kendall, Evan, Andrew, and Justin, one great granddaughter, Jasmine, and nephew, John Mitchell. A Memorial service will be held on Friday, April 28, 2006 at the First Presbyterian Church, 1706 17th Street, Bakersfield, at 2 p.m. with a reception to follow. Donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, American Heart Association, or to a charity of your choice.