James Caldwell

1937 - 2018

CALDWELL, James Laurence (January 23, 1937 - September 21, 2018) Jim was born in New York City to Laurence James and Alice Eleanor (Scott) Caldwell. He received his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1958. He served in the Navy, working on minesweepers, and left as Lieutenant in June 1962. Two months later, Jim "killed himself" while lighting a backyard barbecue, receiving 70% burns and resulting in him becoming both totally blind and paraplegic. As he recovered, he was told he had no rehabilitation potential and would need to spend the rest of his life in a hospital; he thanked them and moved out. He became a self-taught computer programmer, one of the first blind programmers in the country, and went to work for the phone company. He was named National Rehabilitant of the Year in 1970. In 1971, he came to Austin to pursue a graduate degree in business. In February 1976, while working on his dissertation, he met the love of his life, Sue Ricket. (A harpsichord was involved.) It was love at first sight. They married that November. Jim received his Ph.D. in General Business in 1979, and went to work as an advisory engineer at IBM. He was named Handicapped American of the Year in 1985 by the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, and was featured in a national TV ad for IBM in 1986. He gave motivational speeches all over the country on behalf of IBM, and worked to make technology accessible to the disability community. Among his community activities, Jim was a Commissioner on the Texas Commission for the Blind from 1989 to 2001, and chaired the Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities from 1996 until 2003. He was a founding Board member of Knowbility, Inc., in 1999, and chaired the Board from 2004 until 2009. Jim retired from IBM in 1999, but continued his community activities as a Board member of the Scottish Rite Dyslexia Center from 2003 until his death. Amid these activities, Jim and Sue adopted three children in the mid-1980s: Laurence Stanton, Tamara Jo, and James Scott Caldwell. A close-knit family, they traveled around the state and around the country on vacations, especially spending time with Jim's sister Gay (Alice Eleanor) LoCascio and her family in California. Jim and Sue believed in providing a "rich soup" of options for the kids and letting them follow their own paths. The kids have all become delightful adults who have provided great pride and pleasure for their parents. In his spare time, Jim: learned to play the bagpipes; collected weapons, from a Scottish claymore to a black powder whaling harpoon to a full-size cannon; collected slide rules; became an amateur magician; and was a proud member of the Powderhorn Club, the Navy League, Parson's Lodge, the Austin Scottish Rite, Ben Hur Shrine, the Invisible Lodge, the Society of American Magicians, and the International Brotherhood of Magicians. Jim is survived by his wife, Sue; children Laurence Caldwell (wife Cassi; children Ashe, Kiernan, and Caileigh); Tamara Morris (children Ariel and Dylan); and James Caldwell; and sister Gay LoCascio of Murrieta, California. His life will be celebrated on the afternoon of Saturday, October 20; for details, please contact a family member or send email to CelebrateJim@austin.rr.com. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you donate to your favorite charity in his memory.