James Irvin Giddings III

GIDDINGS-James I. ("Jim"), died peacefully, surrounded by family, on September 26th, 2022. Jim was a cartoonist, harmonica and chess player, fly fisherman, entrepreneur, paratrooper, sailor and golfer. He was unassuming, endlessly curious and a thoughtful and considerate husband, father, brother, uncle and friend. He was born on April 28th, 1933, in Americus, Georgia to Wilbur Henry Giddings, an artist and outdoor media company owner, and Billie Clifford Webb, a dietician and bookstore manager. As a teenage scout Jim developed an ability to handle rattlesnakes and was called upon on occasion to diffuse unexpected encounters. With friends, Jim played sports, fished, built soapbox cars and competed in national derby contests. He attended Georgia Military College where he was named Cadet Colonel, Battalion Commander and graduated with distinction. He then attended Georgia Tech where he was in the Reserve Officers' Training Corp, a member of the Alpha Tau Omega-Beta fraternity, a staff cartoonist at the Yellow Jacket humor magazine and earned a degree in industrial engineering. After graduation, he served as a 1st lieutenant in the 507th Parachute Airborne Infantry Regiment out of Fort Benning Georgia. A career as a management consultant led him to Chicago where he met and married the love of his life, Kathryn Boyle Giddings. In 1962, they moved to Atlanta, Georgia where they raised their three children, Page, Jimmy and Dan. Jim published cartoons regularly in The Saturday Review. After stints at the Tennessee Valley Authority and Yale & Towne, Jim settled in for the rest of his consulting career at Kurt Salmon Associates. There, he played an integral role in advising L.L. Bean, Orvis, Harrods, Barneys, Paul Stuart, Saks Fifth Avenue, Home Depot, and other organizations during their periods of growth and reorganization. In 1977, the family moved from Atlanta to New York City's Upper West Side. In New York, Jim continued as a senior consultant with KSA and would often walk through Central Park to offices in the Empire State Building. Jim couldn't get enough of all that New York offered. After leaving for Florida in his later years, he returned regularly. Intrigued by the Essays of E.B. White, he headed up to Maine in 1979 to see for himself. Soon after he acquired a place in Brooklin where the family spends summers to this day. In Maine, Jim indulged his love of classical music, literature, poetry, drawing, sailing and golf. Along the way he served as Commodore of Center Harbor Yacht Club and built two homes overlooking Eggemoggin Reach. After retirement, Jim spent winters in Gulf Stream, Florida where he and Kathryn were members of St. Andrews, The Little Club and the Gulf Stream Golf Club..

Jim was preceded in death by his beloved sisters Elizabeth Anne and Margaret Sue..

Jim is survived by his wife of 60 years, Kathryn Boyle Giddings, his children, Page (Michael) Frohling, James (Carin) Giddings and Daniel (April) Wilson, and his six grandchildren, Ellen, William, Katie, Charlotte, Louise and Lucy.