James Foss of Hingham, died March 23, 2020. Jim was the son of Greek immigrants who fled from Smyrna, Turkey when the city was burned to the ground as part of the Armenian Genocide. The family (James and Helen Photinakis) fled to Greece and came to America where they found safety and liberty. Jim was born in Jersey City, NJ in 1934 and attended Macalaster College, transferred to Boston University and later graduated from BU Law School. He went into industry, working for ACF Industries in New York City, St Louis and Pennsylvania. He later moved back to Boston to work for Nortronics in Norwood. Jim was also Director of Industrial Relations at the Quincy Shipyard (General Dynamics) and the Massachusetts Dept of Mental Health. He was recruited to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service by Bill Usury, then Director of Federal Mediators and U.S. Secretary of Labor. He mediated labor disputes in the newspaper industry, defense industry, electronics and healthcare, including hospitals and ship building. He was also an adjunct professor at Northeastern University for 25 years where he taught labor Management Relations. Jim was sent to El Salvador to train mediators and often spoke of the wonderful people there and read with great sorrow what has happened to the country. He also hosted foreign visitors to America who came to be trained in dispute management. Jim retired from the FMCS in 2007 after 31 years of service. Jim will be remembered as a great patriot with his honesty, love of country and the blessing of freedom and liberty. He enjoyed holiday dinners with three generations of the family and re-telling stories of all kinds. Jim is survived by his beloved wife of 63 years and two children, Alexandra Cavanaugh and her husband Sean, James and his wife Kim and three grandchildren, Jacob and his wife Sara, Casey and Joseph. In light of the ongoing health epidemic, services will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Jim may be made to Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675. See www.Keohane.com or call 1-800-Keohane for online condolences.

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Published by The Hingham Journal from Mar. 25 to Apr. 9, 2020.

Memories and Condolences
for James Foss

Sponsored by Pyne Keohane Funeral Home - Hingham.

2 Entries

Allyson Every

April 1, 2020

Just learned of Jim's passing. Sending my warmest condolences to Jim's wife, children and grandchildren - and to his FMCS family as well. What a wonderful guy. Long before I met Jim, my late dad Frank Every was Business Mgr, Machinist Union (IAMAW Dist 38), and a real fan of his work. My dad worked closely with Jim, Gerry Gomez and other superb FMCS mediators to resolve contract negotiations with a wide variety of New England employers.
As a young union president of the Boston Globe Employees Assn, I used FMCS Boston to settle a contract with the Globe. Jim and Gerry were our assigned mediators and helped the parties bring home an excellent contract benefiting our 1400 members. He and Gerry made a challenging process productive, pleasant and moving forward at the right clip. An amazing storyteller, Jim was a mediator who was smart, upbeat, shrewd, with a deft touch when things got dicey. Ferrying between two parties, he could be subtle and persuasive or right-between-the eyes direct. He knew how to listen and how to read the room. What a fine and decent man, and what a truly useful and important professional career that influenced thousands of workers and managers, hundreds of companies and unions. Rest in peace, Jim.

Anna and Michael Maude

March 25, 2020

Our thoughts and prayers are with Alla and the entire Foss family at this time. We got to know Jim and Alla at the many Hingham youth sporting events that we shared and they quickly became our "go to" couple. We enjoyed talking to Jim, and boy could Jim talk! He shared stories of his family's Greek heritage, the family diner in New Jersey, his trips to their Vermont home, and just lots of wisdom and good life stories. Jim was very approachable and a truly humble man. He loved his family and was a great American. Jim will no doubt be missed by all that knew him.

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