James Andrew Finch

James Andrew Finch died Sept. 11, 2008, in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was the son of Merritt E. Finch and the late Louise Hall Finch.
He was born in New Haven, May 11, 1959, and resided in North Haven until entering Colorado College and subsequently graduating from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1983. He was married to Barbara Wolfe and has since resided there where they have two children, Emily and Dylan. Andy's professional career as a designer of electronic concepts was mainly with Hughes Aircraft and Raytheon where he spearheaded night vision projects, sight-for-the-blind, and space exploration technology. One of his notable accomplishments was his contribution to U.S. space exploration with the 2001 Mars orbiter. An avocation in music led Andy to form and lead two musical groups "The Bluescasters" and "The Riffzones" who entertained extensively in the Santa Barbara area. He had deep interest in the Live Oak Universalist Church of Goleta and was also a devoted lover of the outdoors.
Andy is survived by his wife, Barbara; children, Emily Louise and Dylan Francis Finch. He is also survived by four sisters, Deborah Wrenn, of Mechanicsville, Va., Deborah Doty Hall, of Madison, Conn., Dr. Barbara Fenton, of Billings, Mont., and Mary Louise Finch, of Philadelphia, Pa. Besides his mother, he was predeceased by a brother, Dr. Jeffrey E. Doty, of San Jose, Calif.
Memorial donations may be made to the Live Oak Unitarian-Universalist Congregation, 820 N. Fairview Ave., Goleta CA 93117.