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James Ernest McCormick
James Ernest McCormick
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James McCormick Obituary
August 5th, 1936 to February 5th, 2024
James was born and raised in southeast Kansas (Girard) and he attended Kansas State University (KSU) where he played football on an athletic scholarship. He graduated from KSU in January 1959 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. In 1965, he received an MS in Mechanical Engineering from ASU.
He began his career in Aerospace Engineering in Kansas City, MO where he worked for Bendix Corporation for two years and then he moved to Phoenix, AZ and worked the rest of his career at Allied Signal Corporation where he retired in 1996 as Vice President of Engineering of the Control Systems Division.
In retirement he studied nonfiction writing at ASU and wrote essays and short stories for publication in the Girard Press and the K-Stater, the alumni magazine for KSU. He is the author of two biographies: A Chip Off the Old Block and Grab the Ball and Run. He volunteered in retirement as a GED test prep instructor and he taught English as a Second Language.
He was the penultimate athletic competitor in basketball, football as a QB, tennis and golf in later years. James is survived by his wife Carolyn and his three girls (the flowers in his garden): Laura, Julie and Kristi.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
3 Entries
Howard Longee
February 2, 2025
Jim was a great story teller. One of my favorites from his high school or early college days follows:
After completing his water truck run, spraying to control dust at a construction site, Jim pulled his truck up to the curb across the street from the field office. After receiving his paper work, he returned to his truck and completed the documents. In the meantime, a car had parked in front of his truck. He put the truck in reverse to provide space in order to exit; however, the truck only moved a short distance before stopping. Thinking there must be a rock stopping the truck, Jim pulled the truck forward, revved the engine, transferred to reverse, and popped the clutch. Again, the truck only moved a short distance. After repeating the process a third time, he saw the foreman racing toward him, waving his arms and hollering STOP!
A car had moved into Jim´s blind spot and Jim had demolished the front end.
Jim was a great friend,
Howard Longee
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