James Alford (Jim) Atkinson passed away on April 13, 2020, in Charlottesville, Virginia, after 95 years filled with purpose and adventure.
Jim was born on September 17, 1924, in Bladen County, North Carolina, to William Alford Atkinson and Swannanoa Melvin Atkinson. In 1928 his family moved to New Mexico for one year hoping that the drier climate would slow the progress of his father's tuberculosis. One day 4-year-old Jim wandered too close to a passing herd of longhorn cattle and was charged by a steer. He was saved from being trampled by a cowboy on horseback who lassoed the steer's horns and threw it to the ground in the nick of time. That experience was the first of many adventures in Jim's life and sparked his life-long love of the American West.
Jim's father died before he was 6 years old. His remarkable mother managed to raise five children alone during the Great Depression by teaching them the values of work hard and self-reliance. They all helped her raise food and maintain their property.
Jim graduated from Elizabethtown High School (NC) in 1941 and went to work in the Wilmington NC shipyard in 1942. The shipyard operated 24/7 constructing "Liberty" ships to replace the U.S. merchant fleet that was being destroyed by German submarines. Jim rose quickly from welder to hull construction supervisor despite his young age. In early 1943 he was accepted by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point, New York. Part of his education included one year at sea.
Jim was serving as a Cadet Midshipman on the oil tanker Esso Harrisburg when it was torpedoed and sunk in the Caribbean Sea in July 1944 by a German submarine. Unsure that the radioman had sent an SOS prior to being killed, the men of Jim's lifeboat rigged a sail and made for the nearest land. Jim used his newly acquired celestial navigation skills as the nighttime navigator, alternating with the chief mate who navigated by day. After three days and four nights at sea, the lifeboat landed on the coast of Colombia. Despite the turmoil of a political coup underway there, the men were soon rescued. Jim graduated from the Academy in early 1945 and served on a tanker in the Pacific through the end of the War.
Soon after World War II ended, Jim learned to fly and bought a Fairchild PT-19 that he later replaced with a Cessna 140. Jim's family still jokes about the fact that he could fly an airplane and conn a ship before he learned to drive an automobile. He never shared his generation's love for cars, always finding them boring compared to airplanes and ships.
In 1949 Jim married the love of his life, Kathleen Melvin (Loomis) of White Lake, North Carolina. While his career took the family from one end of the country to the other and took him away for long periods, Kathleen faithfully managed the home front and raised their two daughters. She and Jim shared a love of books, study and travel, but she convinced him to give up flying while their children were young.
Jim was a merchant mariner for 12 years. He achieved the rating of Master Mariner at age 26 and served as First Mate and Master on oil tankers, while also serving in the U.S. Navy Reserve. In 1959 he joined the U.S. Coast Guard and rose to the rank of Captain before retiring in 1979.
In 1958 and early 1959 Jim and Kathleen took a sabbatical and traveled the West with their 3- and 1-year-old daughters in a Plymouth station wagon towing an Airstream trailer. While stationed in San Diego, California, in the mid-1960s, the family again traveled with an Airstream trailer, enjoying many memorable camping trips in the California mountains and deserts.
During the Vietnam War, Jim served as the executive officer of the USCGC Winona (WHEC-65), which was deployed to serve with the U.S. Navy patrolling the coasts of Vietnam. In March 1968, Winona was involved in one of the few naval engagements of that war, sinking an enemy vessel that was attempting to supply munitions in support of the enemy's Tet Offensive. Jim was decorated by both the Coast Guard and the Navy for devising the strategy to overtake the faster enemy vessel and for conning the ship through the entire engagement.
From 1969 to 1971, Jim served as officer in charge of Marine Inspection and captain of the port of Memphis, Tennessee. There he resumed his flying hobby and attained his commercial pilot license for single and multi-engine airplanes, with instrument and ground instructor ratings. He then served as the commanding officer of the Coast Guard cutters Mendota (WHEC-69) and Pontchartrain (WHEC-70) based in Wilmington. Jim spent the last years of his Coast Guard career at Headquarters in Washington D.C., ultimately as chief of the Traveling Inspector Staff, Office of Merchant Marine Safety. In that capacity he honed his expertise in the investigation and mitigation of marine disasters.
In 1974 Jim led a strike force that responded to the (then) second worst marine oil spill in history, after the supertanker Metula went aground in Tierra del Fuego, Chile, while fully laden with crude oil. The strike force offloaded most of the ship's cargo into smaller tankers, thus preventing an even greater pollution disaster. In 1975, Jim led a similar effort when the Japanese supertanker Showa Maru ran aground in the Singapore Strait.
When the SS Sansinena exploded in Los Angeles Harbor in 1976, Jim's investigation resulted in the passage of legislation requiring all oil tankers over 20,000 tons operating in U.S. waters to be equipped with inert gas systems to reduce the risk of explosion. A few years later an international standard was established, extending this requirement to all oceangoing tankers.
Also during his Headquarters years, Jim wrote the Coast Guard's first multi-volume Marine Safety Manual, an updated version of which is still in use today.
After his retirement from the Coast Guard in 1979, Jim embarked upon a 24-year third career as a maritime consultant with an international clientele. He served as an expert witness in the legal trials that followed several high-profile ship explosions and collisions. Other consulting jobs included assessing the navigation channels, navigation aids, mooring systems and shiphandling needs of existing and planned ports and ship terminals around the world. For a number of years, Jim was also an active member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
In 1980 Jim and Kathleen moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, and then to Waynesboro, Virginia, in 1996. At age 72, Jim renewed his pilot's license and enjoyed flying out of Waynesboro's Eagle's Nest Airport for 10 years.
Kathleen passed away suddenly in December 2006, leaving Jim shocked and grief-stricken. However, he soon channeled his grief into positive activity. He bought a motorhome and spent several years traveling and camping in the West, alternating between desert campsites in the winter and high country in the summer. A favorite pastime was exploring wilderness trails on his ATV. Even after an accident in which the ATV rolled over him and broke several ribs, Jim was out riding again three days later. Producing his own electricity with solar panels enabled him to continue studying subjects of interest on his computer.
At age 88, Jim's health required him to stop traveling, and at 92 he moved back to Charlottesville to be near his daughter. He adapted to these changes by staying busy reading and taking online courses. He often read books in Spanish or French to maintain his foreign language skills while also learning something new.
His health steadily declined after 2017, requiring 24/7 caregivers. Jim accepted his decline with dignity, humor and unflagging good spirits. As his vision and hearing failed and his memory faded, he could no longer read and study widely. But his final months were brightened by listening to the audiobooks of Western writer, Louis L'Amour. Jim could still relate to L'Amour's vivid descriptions of Western landscapes and to his strong, moral characters. So the enduring image of the cowboy who saved his life so long ago provided his final pleasure.
Jim will be remembered for his independent spirit, personal and professional integrity, innovative thinking and commitment to lifelong learning — also for his sense of humor. His ability to adapt gracefully to the closures and losses of old age will continue to inspire family and friends.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Kathleen; also by his brother William Henry Atkinson, and sisters Ann Atkinson Nowell and Enid Atkinson Ward. Jim is survived by his brother Donald Miles Atkinson of Pittsboro, North Carolina, daughter Jean Atkinson Mitchell (Bill) of Charlottesville, Virginia, daughter Elizabeth Atkinson Gibson (Mark) of Sandy, Utah, grandson Robert Randall Gibson of Sandy, Utah, and granddaughter Sarah Elizabeth (Cera) Gibson of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Jim's family would like to thank the medical professionals and caregivers who took care of him in his last years. There were too many to list them all, but special thanks go out to Tina Rutt, NP; Malisa Lacy, RN; Jane White, CNA; and Gladys Coles, CNA. We are also grateful to many employees of Hospice of the Piedmont, including their wonderful volunteers, John Stack and T.K. Woods.
Jim's ashes will be buried with his wife and four prior generations of his family in the Atkinson family cemetery in Bladen County, following a memorial service to be scheduled later this year. Donations may be made in his name to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
Source: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bladenjournal/obituary.aspx?n=james-alford-atkinson-jim&pid=196304223
Jim was born on September 17, 1924, in Bladen County, North Carolina, to William Alford Atkinson and Swannanoa Melvin Atkinson. In 1928 his family moved to New Mexico for one year hoping that the drier climate would slow the progress of his father's tuberculosis. One day 4-year-old Jim wandered too close to a passing herd of longhorn cattle and was charged by a steer. He was saved from being trampled by a cowboy on horseback who lassoed the steer's horns and threw it to the ground in the nick of time. That experience was the first of many adventures in Jim's life and sparked his life-long love of the American West.
Jim's father died before he was 6 years old. His remarkable mother managed to raise five children alone during the Great Depression by teaching them the values of work hard and self-reliance. They all helped her raise food and maintain their property.
Jim graduated from Elizabethtown High School (NC) in 1941 and went to work in the Wilmington NC shipyard in 1942. The shipyard operated 24/7 constructing "Liberty" ships to replace the U.S. merchant fleet that was being destroyed by German submarines. Jim rose quickly from welder to hull construction supervisor despite his young age. In early 1943 he was accepted by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point, New York. Part of his education included one year at sea.
Jim was serving as a Cadet Midshipman on the oil tanker Esso Harrisburg when it was torpedoed and sunk in the Caribbean Sea in July 1944 by a German submarine. Unsure that the radioman had sent an SOS prior to being killed, the men of Jim's lifeboat rigged a sail and made for the nearest land. Jim used his newly acquired celestial navigation skills as the nighttime navigator, alternating with the chief mate who navigated by day. After three days and four nights at sea, the lifeboat landed on the coast of Colombia. Despite the turmoil of a political coup underway there, the men were soon rescued. Jim graduated from the Academy in early 1945 and served on a tanker in the Pacific through the end of the War.
Soon after World War II ended, Jim learned to fly and bought a Fairchild PT-19 that he later replaced with a Cessna 140. Jim's family still jokes about the fact that he could fly an airplane and conn a ship before he learned to drive an automobile. He never shared his generation's love for cars, always finding them boring compared to airplanes and ships.
In 1949 Jim married the love of his life, Kathleen Melvin (Loomis) of White Lake, North Carolina. While his career took the family from one end of the country to the other and took him away for long periods, Kathleen faithfully managed the home front and raised their two daughters. She and Jim shared a love of books, study and travel, but she convinced him to give up flying while their children were young.
Jim was a merchant mariner for 12 years. He achieved the rating of Master Mariner at age 26 and served as First Mate and Master on oil tankers, while also serving in the U.S. Navy Reserve. In 1959 he joined the U.S. Coast Guard and rose to the rank of Captain before retiring in 1979.
In 1958 and early 1959 Jim and Kathleen took a sabbatical and traveled the West with their 3- and 1-year-old daughters in a Plymouth station wagon towing an Airstream trailer. While stationed in San Diego, California, in the mid-1960s, the family again traveled with an Airstream trailer, enjoying many memorable camping trips in the California mountains and deserts.
During the Vietnam War, Jim served as the executive officer of the USCGC Winona (WHEC-65), which was deployed to serve with the U.S. Navy patrolling the coasts of Vietnam. In March 1968, Winona was involved in one of the few naval engagements of that war, sinking an enemy vessel that was attempting to supply munitions in support of the enemy's Tet Offensive. Jim was decorated by both the Coast Guard and the Navy for devising the strategy to overtake the faster enemy vessel and for conning the ship through the entire engagement.
From 1969 to 1971, Jim served as officer in charge of Marine Inspection and captain of the port of Memphis, Tennessee. There he resumed his flying hobby and attained his commercial pilot license for single and multi-engine airplanes, with instrument and ground instructor ratings. He then served as the commanding officer of the Coast Guard cutters Mendota (WHEC-69) and Pontchartrain (WHEC-70) based in Wilmington. Jim spent the last years of his Coast Guard career at Headquarters in Washington D.C., ultimately as chief of the Traveling Inspector Staff, Office of Merchant Marine Safety. In that capacity he honed his expertise in the investigation and mitigation of marine disasters.
In 1974 Jim led a strike force that responded to the (then) second worst marine oil spill in history, after the supertanker Metula went aground in Tierra del Fuego, Chile, while fully laden with crude oil. The strike force offloaded most of the ship's cargo into smaller tankers, thus preventing an even greater pollution disaster. In 1975, Jim led a similar effort when the Japanese supertanker Showa Maru ran aground in the Singapore Strait.
When the SS Sansinena exploded in Los Angeles Harbor in 1976, Jim's investigation resulted in the passage of legislation requiring all oil tankers over 20,000 tons operating in U.S. waters to be equipped with inert gas systems to reduce the risk of explosion. A few years later an international standard was established, extending this requirement to all oceangoing tankers.
Also during his Headquarters years, Jim wrote the Coast Guard's first multi-volume Marine Safety Manual, an updated version of which is still in use today.
After his retirement from the Coast Guard in 1979, Jim embarked upon a 24-year third career as a maritime consultant with an international clientele. He served as an expert witness in the legal trials that followed several high-profile ship explosions and collisions. Other consulting jobs included assessing the navigation channels, navigation aids, mooring systems and shiphandling needs of existing and planned ports and ship terminals around the world. For a number of years, Jim was also an active member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
In 1980 Jim and Kathleen moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, and then to Waynesboro, Virginia, in 1996. At age 72, Jim renewed his pilot's license and enjoyed flying out of Waynesboro's Eagle's Nest Airport for 10 years.
Kathleen passed away suddenly in December 2006, leaving Jim shocked and grief-stricken. However, he soon channeled his grief into positive activity. He bought a motorhome and spent several years traveling and camping in the West, alternating between desert campsites in the winter and high country in the summer. A favorite pastime was exploring wilderness trails on his ATV. Even after an accident in which the ATV rolled over him and broke several ribs, Jim was out riding again three days later. Producing his own electricity with solar panels enabled him to continue studying subjects of interest on his computer.
At age 88, Jim's health required him to stop traveling, and at 92 he moved back to Charlottesville to be near his daughter. He adapted to these changes by staying busy reading and taking online courses. He often read books in Spanish or French to maintain his foreign language skills while also learning something new.
His health steadily declined after 2017, requiring 24/7 caregivers. Jim accepted his decline with dignity, humor and unflagging good spirits. As his vision and hearing failed and his memory faded, he could no longer read and study widely. But his final months were brightened by listening to the audiobooks of Western writer, Louis L'Amour. Jim could still relate to L'Amour's vivid descriptions of Western landscapes and to his strong, moral characters. So the enduring image of the cowboy who saved his life so long ago provided his final pleasure.
Jim will be remembered for his independent spirit, personal and professional integrity, innovative thinking and commitment to lifelong learning — also for his sense of humor. His ability to adapt gracefully to the closures and losses of old age will continue to inspire family and friends.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Kathleen; also by his brother William Henry Atkinson, and sisters Ann Atkinson Nowell and Enid Atkinson Ward. Jim is survived by his brother Donald Miles Atkinson of Pittsboro, North Carolina, daughter Jean Atkinson Mitchell (Bill) of Charlottesville, Virginia, daughter Elizabeth Atkinson Gibson (Mark) of Sandy, Utah, grandson Robert Randall Gibson of Sandy, Utah, and granddaughter Sarah Elizabeth (Cera) Gibson of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Jim's family would like to thank the medical professionals and caregivers who took care of him in his last years. There were too many to list them all, but special thanks go out to Tina Rutt, NP; Malisa Lacy, RN; Jane White, CNA; and Gladys Coles, CNA. We are also grateful to many employees of Hospice of the Piedmont, including their wonderful volunteers, John Stack and T.K. Woods.
Jim's ashes will be buried with his wife and four prior generations of his family in the Atkinson family cemetery in Bladen County, following a memorial service to be scheduled later this year. Donations may be made in his name to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
Source: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bladenjournal/obituary.aspx?n=james-alford-atkinson-jim&pid=196304223
James Alford (Jim) Atkinson passed away on April 13, 2020, in Charlottesville, Virginia, after 95 years filled with purpose and adventure.
Jim was born on September 17, 1924, in Bladen County, North Carolina, to William Alford Atkinson and Swannanoa Melvin Atkinson. In 1928 his family moved to New Mexico for one year hoping that the drier climate would slow the progress of his father's tuberculosis. One day 4-year-old Jim wandered too close to a passing herd of longhorn cattle and was charged by a steer. He was saved from being trampled by a cowboy on horseback who lassoed the steer's horns and threw it to the ground in the nick of time. That experience was the first of many adventures in Jim's life and sparked his life-long love of the American West.
Jim's father died before he was 6 years old. His remarkable mother managed to raise five children alone during the Great Depression by teaching them the values of work hard and self-reliance. They all helped her raise food and maintain their property.
Jim graduated from Elizabethtown High School (NC) in 1941 and went to work in the Wilmington NC shipyard in 1942. The shipyard operated 24/7 constructing "Liberty" ships to replace the U.S. merchant fleet that was being destroyed by German submarines. Jim rose quickly from welder to hull construction supervisor despite his young age. In early 1943 he was accepted by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point, New York. Part of his education included one year at sea.
Jim was serving as a Cadet Midshipman on the oil tanker Esso Harrisburg when it was torpedoed and sunk in the Caribbean Sea in July 1944 by a German submarine. Unsure that the radioman had sent an SOS prior to being killed, the men of Jim's lifeboat rigged a sail and made for the nearest land. Jim used his newly acquired celestial navigation skills as the nighttime navigator, alternating with the chief mate who navigated by day. After three days and four nights at sea, the lifeboat landed on the coast of Colombia. Despite the turmoil of a political coup underway there, the men were soon rescued. Jim graduated from the Academy in early 1945 and served on a tanker in the Pacific through the end of the War.
Soon after World War II ended, Jim learned to fly and bought a Fairchild PT-19 that he later replaced with a Cessna 140. Jim's family still jokes about the fact that he could fly an airplane and conn a ship before he learned to drive an automobile. He never shared his generation's love for cars, always finding them boring compared to airplanes and ships.
In 1949 Jim married the love of his life, Kathleen Melvin (Loomis) of White Lake, North Carolina. While his career took the family from one end of the country to the other and took him away for long periods, Kathleen faithfully managed the home front and raised their two daughters. She and Jim shared a love of books, study and travel, but she convinced him to give up flying while their children were young.
Jim was a merchant mariner for 12 years. He achieved the rating of Master Mariner at age 26 and served as First Mate and Master on oil tankers, while also serving in the U.S. Navy Reserve. In 1959 he joined the U.S. Coast Guard and rose to the rank of Captain before retiring in 1979.
In 1958 and early 1959 Jim and Kathleen took a sabbatical and traveled the West with their 3- and 1-year-old daughters in a Plymouth station wagon towing an Airstream trailer. While stationed in San Diego, California, in the mid-1960s, the family again traveled with an Airstream trailer, enjoying many memorable camping trips in the California mountains and deserts.
During the Vietnam War, Jim served as the executive officer of the USCGC Winona (WHEC-65), which was deployed to serve with the U.S. Navy patrolling the coasts of Vietnam. In March 1968, Winona was involved in one of the few naval engagements of that war, sinking an enemy vessel that was attempting to supply munitions in support of the enemy's Tet Offensive. Jim was decorated by both the Coast Guard and the Navy for devising the strategy to overtake the faster enemy vessel and for conning the ship through the entire engagement.
From 1969 to 1971, Jim served as officer in charge of Marine Inspection and captain of the port of Memphis, Tennessee. There he resumed his flying hobby and attained his commercial pilot license for single and multi-engine airplanes, with instrument and ground instructor ratings. He then served as the commanding officer of the Coast Guard cutters Mendota (WHEC-69) and Pontchartrain (WHEC-70) based in Wilmington. Jim spent the last years of his Coast Guard career at Headquarters in Washington D.C., ultimately as chief of the Traveling Inspector Staff, Office of Merchant Marine Safety. In that capacity he honed his expertise in the investigation and mitigation of marine disasters.
In 1974 Jim led a strike force that responded to the (then) second worst marine oil spill in history, after the supertanker Metula went aground in Tierra del Fuego, Chile, while fully laden with crude oil. The strike force offloaded most of the ship's cargo into smaller tankers, thus preventing an even greater pollution disaster. In 1975, Jim led a similar effort when the Japanese supertanker Showa Maru ran aground in the Singapore Strait.
When the SS Sansinena exploded in Los Angeles Harbor in 1976, Jim's investigation resulted in the passage of legislation requiring all oil tankers over 20,000 tons operating in U.S. waters to be equipped with inert gas systems to reduce the risk of explosion. A few years later an international standard was established, extending this requirement to all oceangoing tankers.
Also during his Headquarters years, Jim wrote the Coast Guard's first multi-volume Marine Safety Manual, an updated version of which is still in use today.
After his retirement from the Coast Guard in 1979, Jim embarked upon a 24-year third career as a maritime consultant with an international clientele. He served as an expert witness in the legal trials that followed several high-profile ship explosions and collisions. Other consulting jobs included assessing the navigation channels, navigation aids, mooring systems and shiphandling needs of existing and planned ports and ship terminals around the world. For a number of years, Jim was also an active member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
In 1980 Jim and Kathleen moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, and then to Waynesboro, Virginia, in 1996. At age 72, Jim renewed his pilot's license and enjoyed flying out of Waynesboro's Eagle's Nest Airport for 10 years.
Kathleen passed away suddenly in December 2006, leaving Jim shocked and grief-stricken. However, he soon channeled his grief into positive activity. He bought a motorhome and spent several years traveling and camping in the West, alternating between desert campsites in the winter and high country in the summer. A favorite pastime was exploring wilderness trails on his ATV. Even after an accident in which the ATV rolled over him and broke several ribs, Jim was out riding again three days later. Producing his own electricity with solar panels enabled him to continue studying subjects of interest on his computer.
At age 88, Jim's health required him to stop traveling, and at 92 he moved back to Charlottesville to be near his daughter. He adapted to these changes by staying busy reading and taking online courses. He often read books in Spanish or French to maintain his foreign language skills while also learning something new.
His health steadily declined after 2017, requiring 24/7 caregivers. Jim accepted his decline with dignity, humor and unflagging good spirits. As his vision and hearing failed and his memory faded, he could no longer read and study widely. But his final months were brightened by listening to the audiobooks of Western writer, Louis L'Amour. Jim could still relate to L'Amour's vivid descriptions of Western landscapes and to his strong, moral characters. So the enduring image of the cowboy who saved his life so long ago provided his final pleasure.
Jim will be remembered for his independent spirit, personal and professional integrity, innovative thinking and commitment to lifelong learning — also for his sense of humor. His ability to adapt gracefully to the closures and losses of old age will continue to inspire family and friends.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Kathleen; also by his brother William Henry Atkinson, and sisters Ann Atkinson Nowell and Enid Atkinson Ward. Jim is survived by his brother Donald Miles Atkinson of Pittsboro, North Carolina, daughter Jean Atkinson Mitchell (Bill) of Charlottesville, Virginia, daughter Elizabeth Atkinson Gibson (Mark) of Sandy, Utah, grandson Robert Randall Gibson of Sandy, Utah, and granddaughter Sarah Elizabeth (Cera) Gibson of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Jim's family would like to thank the medical professionals and caregivers who took care of him in his last years. There were too many to list them all, but special thanks go out to Tina Rutt, NP; Malisa Lacy, RN; Jane White, CNA; and Gladys Coles, CNA. We are also grateful to many employees of Hospice of the Piedmont, including their wonderful volunteers, John Stack and T.K. Woods.
Jim's ashes will be buried with his wife and four prior generations of his family in the Atkinson family cemetery in Bladen County, following a memorial service to be scheduled later this year. Donations may be made in his name to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
Source: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bladenjournal/obituary.aspx?n=james-alford-atkinson-jim&pid=196304223
Jim was born on September 17, 1924, in Bladen County, North Carolina, to William Alford Atkinson and Swannanoa Melvin Atkinson. In 1928 his family moved to New Mexico for one year hoping that the drier climate would slow the progress of his father's tuberculosis. One day 4-year-old Jim wandered too close to a passing herd of longhorn cattle and was charged by a steer. He was saved from being trampled by a cowboy on horseback who lassoed the steer's horns and threw it to the ground in the nick of time. That experience was the first of many adventures in Jim's life and sparked his life-long love of the American West.
Jim's father died before he was 6 years old. His remarkable mother managed to raise five children alone during the Great Depression by teaching them the values of work hard and self-reliance. They all helped her raise food and maintain their property.
Jim graduated from Elizabethtown High School (NC) in 1941 and went to work in the Wilmington NC shipyard in 1942. The shipyard operated 24/7 constructing "Liberty" ships to replace the U.S. merchant fleet that was being destroyed by German submarines. Jim rose quickly from welder to hull construction supervisor despite his young age. In early 1943 he was accepted by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point, New York. Part of his education included one year at sea.
Jim was serving as a Cadet Midshipman on the oil tanker Esso Harrisburg when it was torpedoed and sunk in the Caribbean Sea in July 1944 by a German submarine. Unsure that the radioman had sent an SOS prior to being killed, the men of Jim's lifeboat rigged a sail and made for the nearest land. Jim used his newly acquired celestial navigation skills as the nighttime navigator, alternating with the chief mate who navigated by day. After three days and four nights at sea, the lifeboat landed on the coast of Colombia. Despite the turmoil of a political coup underway there, the men were soon rescued. Jim graduated from the Academy in early 1945 and served on a tanker in the Pacific through the end of the War.
Soon after World War II ended, Jim learned to fly and bought a Fairchild PT-19 that he later replaced with a Cessna 140. Jim's family still jokes about the fact that he could fly an airplane and conn a ship before he learned to drive an automobile. He never shared his generation's love for cars, always finding them boring compared to airplanes and ships.
In 1949 Jim married the love of his life, Kathleen Melvin (Loomis) of White Lake, North Carolina. While his career took the family from one end of the country to the other and took him away for long periods, Kathleen faithfully managed the home front and raised their two daughters. She and Jim shared a love of books, study and travel, but she convinced him to give up flying while their children were young.
Jim was a merchant mariner for 12 years. He achieved the rating of Master Mariner at age 26 and served as First Mate and Master on oil tankers, while also serving in the U.S. Navy Reserve. In 1959 he joined the U.S. Coast Guard and rose to the rank of Captain before retiring in 1979.
In 1958 and early 1959 Jim and Kathleen took a sabbatical and traveled the West with their 3- and 1-year-old daughters in a Plymouth station wagon towing an Airstream trailer. While stationed in San Diego, California, in the mid-1960s, the family again traveled with an Airstream trailer, enjoying many memorable camping trips in the California mountains and deserts.
During the Vietnam War, Jim served as the executive officer of the USCGC Winona (WHEC-65), which was deployed to serve with the U.S. Navy patrolling the coasts of Vietnam. In March 1968, Winona was involved in one of the few naval engagements of that war, sinking an enemy vessel that was attempting to supply munitions in support of the enemy's Tet Offensive. Jim was decorated by both the Coast Guard and the Navy for devising the strategy to overtake the faster enemy vessel and for conning the ship through the entire engagement.
From 1969 to 1971, Jim served as officer in charge of Marine Inspection and captain of the port of Memphis, Tennessee. There he resumed his flying hobby and attained his commercial pilot license for single and multi-engine airplanes, with instrument and ground instructor ratings. He then served as the commanding officer of the Coast Guard cutters Mendota (WHEC-69) and Pontchartrain (WHEC-70) based in Wilmington. Jim spent the last years of his Coast Guard career at Headquarters in Washington D.C., ultimately as chief of the Traveling Inspector Staff, Office of Merchant Marine Safety. In that capacity he honed his expertise in the investigation and mitigation of marine disasters.
In 1974 Jim led a strike force that responded to the (then) second worst marine oil spill in history, after the supertanker Metula went aground in Tierra del Fuego, Chile, while fully laden with crude oil. The strike force offloaded most of the ship's cargo into smaller tankers, thus preventing an even greater pollution disaster. In 1975, Jim led a similar effort when the Japanese supertanker Showa Maru ran aground in the Singapore Strait.
When the SS Sansinena exploded in Los Angeles Harbor in 1976, Jim's investigation resulted in the passage of legislation requiring all oil tankers over 20,000 tons operating in U.S. waters to be equipped with inert gas systems to reduce the risk of explosion. A few years later an international standard was established, extending this requirement to all oceangoing tankers.
Also during his Headquarters years, Jim wrote the Coast Guard's first multi-volume Marine Safety Manual, an updated version of which is still in use today.
After his retirement from the Coast Guard in 1979, Jim embarked upon a 24-year third career as a maritime consultant with an international clientele. He served as an expert witness in the legal trials that followed several high-profile ship explosions and collisions. Other consulting jobs included assessing the navigation channels, navigation aids, mooring systems and shiphandling needs of existing and planned ports and ship terminals around the world. For a number of years, Jim was also an active member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
In 1980 Jim and Kathleen moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, and then to Waynesboro, Virginia, in 1996. At age 72, Jim renewed his pilot's license and enjoyed flying out of Waynesboro's Eagle's Nest Airport for 10 years.
Kathleen passed away suddenly in December 2006, leaving Jim shocked and grief-stricken. However, he soon channeled his grief into positive activity. He bought a motorhome and spent several years traveling and camping in the West, alternating between desert campsites in the winter and high country in the summer. A favorite pastime was exploring wilderness trails on his ATV. Even after an accident in which the ATV rolled over him and broke several ribs, Jim was out riding again three days later. Producing his own electricity with solar panels enabled him to continue studying subjects of interest on his computer.
At age 88, Jim's health required him to stop traveling, and at 92 he moved back to Charlottesville to be near his daughter. He adapted to these changes by staying busy reading and taking online courses. He often read books in Spanish or French to maintain his foreign language skills while also learning something new.
His health steadily declined after 2017, requiring 24/7 caregivers. Jim accepted his decline with dignity, humor and unflagging good spirits. As his vision and hearing failed and his memory faded, he could no longer read and study widely. But his final months were brightened by listening to the audiobooks of Western writer, Louis L'Amour. Jim could still relate to L'Amour's vivid descriptions of Western landscapes and to his strong, moral characters. So the enduring image of the cowboy who saved his life so long ago provided his final pleasure.
Jim will be remembered for his independent spirit, personal and professional integrity, innovative thinking and commitment to lifelong learning — also for his sense of humor. His ability to adapt gracefully to the closures and losses of old age will continue to inspire family and friends.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Kathleen; also by his brother William Henry Atkinson, and sisters Ann Atkinson Nowell and Enid Atkinson Ward. Jim is survived by his brother Donald Miles Atkinson of Pittsboro, North Carolina, daughter Jean Atkinson Mitchell (Bill) of Charlottesville, Virginia, daughter Elizabeth Atkinson Gibson (Mark) of Sandy, Utah, grandson Robert Randall Gibson of Sandy, Utah, and granddaughter Sarah Elizabeth (Cera) Gibson of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Jim's family would like to thank the medical professionals and caregivers who took care of him in his last years. There were too many to list them all, but special thanks go out to Tina Rutt, NP; Malisa Lacy, RN; Jane White, CNA; and Gladys Coles, CNA. We are also grateful to many employees of Hospice of the Piedmont, including their wonderful volunteers, John Stack and T.K. Woods.
Jim's ashes will be buried with his wife and four prior generations of his family in the Atkinson family cemetery in Bladen County, following a memorial service to be scheduled later this year. Donations may be made in his name to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
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Source: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bladenjournal/obituary.aspx?n=james-alford-atkinson-jim&pid=196304223
