James R. Mansfield

1925 - 2015

James Reynolds Mansfield, 89, for fifty years the dearly loved husband of Barbara Meinershagen Mansfield, died peacefully at home February 23, 2015. He was born in Jamestown, NY, March 4, 1925, the son of Percy Blynn and Ethel Reynolds Mansfield. He won the Virginia Junior Singles Tennis Championship his junior year at Washington and Lee High School in Arlington, VA, graduating in 1943, and immediately afterward enlisted in the United States Navy as a Naval Aviation Cadet. He trained as a carrier-based Hellcat fighter pilot during World War II, serving in the Atlantic Theatre and beginning seventeen years as a Naval aviator, test pilot and Lieutenant in the Naval Reserves. He was one of two young Naval officers selected to fly with the Blue Angels at its inception, helping to recruit future Blue Angel pilots. He attended Antioch College after being honorably discharged from active service in 1947, graduating in 1951 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Physics. His civilian career centered around aviation, beginning as a test pilot for Lockheed, and then with General Motors Aeroproducts Division, where he invented the L-shaped propeller. His subsequent work with electron-beam welding involved innovative procedures for both the automotive and aviation arenas, both domestic and international, with Hamilton Standard (Division of United Technologies), Leybold-Heraeus and MG Industries. As a dedicated member of the community, he was a member of the Public Building Commission in Windsor, CT, from 1969-1981 and Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals in East Granby, CT, from 1986-1994. Besides his wife, Barbara, he leaves two sons, James Reynolds Mansfield, Jr. and his fianceé Lynn Pruett, of Salvisa, KY, and William Townsend Mansfield, M.D., and his wife Lesley of Santa Fe, NM; two daughters, Laura Pettibon and her husband Christopher of Vergennes, VT, and Caroline Keena and her husband Richard of Windsor, CT; six grandchildren: Annie, Samuel, Patrick, Russell, Shiri Lea, and Nathaniel, and one great-grandchild, Lucy. Besides his parents, he was predeceased by his daughter Linda Mansfield of Portland, ME, and his two sisters, Jane Conrad of St. Joseph, MO and Katherine Folk of Frederick, MD. A memorial service and burial will be private at the convenience of the family. Contributions may be made in his memory to Grace Episcopal Church, 311 Broad Street, Windsor, CT, 06095, or to McLean Rehabilitation Center, 75 Great Pond Road, Simsbury, CT, 06070.