James Blackmore

Obituary of James R. Blackmore

WADDINGTON- James Robert Blackmore, “Jim”, 82, of Waddington, NY passed away on Friday December 31st, 2021 after a courageous battle with lung cancer, where he was under the care of Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley. He was born on February 15th, 1939 in Superior, Wisconsin to James Jerome and Dorothy Irene Blackmore, both deceased. He is survived by his wife, Elisabeth Jane, who he married on July 1st, 1967; his son, James J. and his fiancé, Georgine, of Madrid, NY; his daughter, Julie and husband, Allen, of Norfolk, NY; his brother Donald and wife, Bonnie of Clarkston, MI; his nephew, Eric and wife, Kathy of Edgewood, FL; his niece Becky of Richmond, TX; and his grandchildren: Kimo, Olivia, Heather, Lance, Logan; and his great grandchildren: Alahna, Natally, James Pohaku, and Joshua “Jojo”. If you ask Jim where he was from, he would always say, “The United States”. That is because his father’s work took the family to Washington, California, Wisconsin, So. Dakota, Minnesota, Nevada, Indiana, and finally New York State. He went to six different high schools and finally graduated from Potsdam Central High School. He attended General Motors Institute and graduated from SUNY Potsdam, majoring in Physics. He retired from Honeywell Ceramic Components in Torrance, California in 2004 as a Senior Manufacturing Engineer. He earned his senior level certification from ASME & SME. After his retirement he relocated to Waddington to live by the St. Lawrence River, where he could pursue his passion for boating. He was a member, an officer, and a certified instructor of the St. Lawrence Sail and Power Squadron. He learned the love of boating from his father by helping his build a 19’ inboard in ’54, a 30’ aluminum inboard in ’62, and a 40’ aluminum twin inboard in ’67. He then continued his passion for boating when he and his friends, the Rice’s, rented a 23’ O’Day and sailed in Penobscot Bay, Maine; co-owned a 56’ Harvey Gamage Ketch with the same friends; self-retrofitted a 14’ Bayliner from an outboard to an inboard; bought a 24’ McGregor sailboard and his last boat, a 25’ Searay I/O, “OHKILALO”, named after his grandchildren: Olivia, Heather, Kimo, Lance, and Logan. He and his grandson, Kimo trailered the boat from Torrence, California to Waddington, NY while Kimo was on school break in 2004. Jim was a maintenance kind of person with knowledge that he had obtained while working with his father and always passed this knowledge on to others. If something could be fixed, he was the man to do it. He wore many hats throughout his career from machining and engineering manager to, teacher of secondary math, industrial arts and driver education. There were three self-employed ventures that he was most proud of: “Yankee Woodstoves”, for the fabrication of low-cost wood burning stoves; “Jouleco”, to use energy efficient building materials in construction; and “Instructional Media Associates”, a multi-media training program for instructors of SCUBA diving. He held the no. 26 certification from NAUI as an underwater skin (breathe-hold) and scuba diving instructor. He received an honorable discharge from the Air Force Reserve out of Burlington, Vermont, in 1969, after serving for 6 years in the ground power unit. He was a die-hard Yankees fan and somehow put up with football in the winter until spring arrived and he could once again enjoy his beloved baseball. He always said “What is life if not with family”. He so enjoyed watching his two grandchildren, Lance and Logan play sports, including: basketball, baseball, cross-country, and also having the family over for special occasion dinners. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to America’s Boating Club https://americasboatingclub.org/. As per his wishes, there will be no calling hours or funeral. A memorial Celebration of Life for James will be held at a later date after a private family gathering for interment of the ashes. Online condolences may be made at NorthCountryCremationService.com.
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