James Edward Masterson

Masterson James Edward The world lost a true gentleman when James Edward Masterson, 97, passed away in his home on February 3, 2024. Raised in East Greenwich, RI, Jim was raised by his mother, Mary, widowed with two children when she was 20, and his aunts, Helen, Lucille, and Martha. It was Martha, a librarian, who instilled in Jim a deep love of reading. He maintained a lifetime "Book Journal", chronicling each book he'd read. Though he lived his adult life in the Philadelphia area, he would always call East Greenwich his home. Jim served as a WWII radio signal operator with the 460th Army Air Force at Camp Crowther, MO. The G.I. Bill allowed him to attend college at the University of Rhode Island where he studied chemistry. A casual inquiry from a professor as to his future plans sent Jim to grad school at Penn State where he obtained his Ph.D. While at Penn State Jim went on a blind date with Carolyn Caffey. Knocked out by her intellect, Southern charm, and natural beauty, Jim had met his match. Following graduation, Jim accepted a position with Rohm and Haas where he worked as a chemist and later as a Chemical Operations Manager, first in Moorestown, NJ and then at Spring House, until his retirement. A man of many and varied interests, Jim enjoyed baseball, tennis, bridge, birding, opera, cars, and the Sunday Times crossword puzzle. He and Carolyn traveled widely, often in search of bird species he was hoping to see. He was an excellent conversationalist with a natural ability to find most everyone and everything of interest. Above all, Jim was a gentleman - an unassuming friend, a quiet philanthropist, and an unwitting mentor to many. Jim was predeceased by his wife, Carolyn, his father, James, his mother, Mary, his sister Betty, his step-father Eddy and his step-brother Eddy Jr. He is survived by his cousins Larry, Dennis, and Walt Cronin of RI, and Elizabeth Dowd, Rand Whipple, and McCambridge and Walker Dowd-Whipple for whom he became a second father/grandfather and beloved elder. Jim spent many happy hours among friends at the Yorktown Bridge Club. He took great pleasure in the companionship of a series of cats. He was blessed with wonderful neighbors whose kindness facilitated his ability to remain in his home - among them Bruce Weurth, Joe and Susie Kiefner, and Jack Rossi. His final years were made possible and comfortable through the kind presence of his steadfast caregivers, Wanda and Symone. Suggested donations in his memory can be made to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology or the Environmental Defense Fund. A gathering to share stories and celebrate a long life, well-lived, is planned for the Spring. www.mayfuneralhome.com