James Arthur Powers died peacefully on April 29, 2022.

He was born in Medford, Massachusetts on April 6, 1940 to James and Mary (McMinn) Powers. Jim attended Medford schools graduating in 1958. Shortly thereafter he joined the United States Navy to see the world, following in the footsteps of his brother Ed who entered the Navy in 1954. James proudly served aboard the Destroyer Tender USS Yellowstone (AD-27) out of Newport, Rhode Island, and was aboard for several overseas cruises. He was proud of his uniform and walked to Sunday Mass wearing it while home on leave.

Upon discharge from active duty, he worked at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts for 12 years as a technical illustrator on NASA’s Apollo project, later married and being blessed with and a proud father to daughter Noel and son Christopher. In the 1970s James and his children camped New Hampshire state parks on many summer weekends and in the winter months they would ski New Hampshire and Maine mountains.

An avid motorcyclist, he purchased his first bike in 1964 while narrowly escaping death in a 1975 accident. Another of his favorite pastimes was his interest in philately, beginning as a boy in the ’50s and continuing until his death. Countless pleasurable hours were spent perusing his stamp collections.

Leaving MIT in 1974, James worked on Air Force and Navy projects at a defense contractor in Reading, Massachusetts for the next 18 years. In 1992 he obtained employment with the state of Maine where he remained until his retirement in 2003. He also purchased his hilltop home in Boothbay Harbor in 1993 where he spent many pleasurable hours building stone walls and clearing his land. In 1994 James joined the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary in Boothbay Harbor wherein he crewed aboard numerous Coast Guard assets while patrolling the offshore waters of the Midcoast and remained active until his death. As a life member of the Boothbay Region Fish & Game Club, James served as secretary for several years as well as secretary to the Boothbay Harbor Port Committee. James also proudly volunteered his services with the Boothbay Harbor Fire Police Unit providing traffic control for both departments.

Other than his children his greatest pleasures in life were his dogs and cats over the years. A quiet man, James cherished his time with his beloved Bernese Mountain Dog Bernee, and his three black Labs, Sherman Zwicker, Lily Fantasia and Abbie Burgess as well as his many, many cats.

James was predeceased by his parents, brother and retired Navy Chief Hospitalman Edward Powers, and James’ four dogs.

He is survived by daughter Noel Powers Alvarez and her three boys of Dedham, Massachusetts; son Christopher Powers and his two children of Nashua, New Hampshire; his sister Mary Lou McGinnis of West Melbourne Florida; sister Ann Marie Massaro and husband Louof Reading, Massachusetts; sister Lorraine Taylor of Hampstead, New Hampshire; and sister Marilyn Powers of Frederick, Maryland. James had a special place in his heart for his nephew MAJ Ryan James Powers of the U.S. Marine Corps as well as many other nieces and nephews.

Halls of Boothbay has care of the arrangements. A military funeral and Mass will be held at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Boothbay Harbor followed by internment at Evergreen Cemetery in Boothbay, to be announced at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations in James’ memory may be made to Coastal Humane Society, Brunswick, Maine.