A life filled with dignity, respect for others and passion for detail, ended with the death of James L. Hodges, of Vernon, Connecticut on October 20, 2011. James died peacefully with his devoted family by his side just eleven days short of his 72nd Halloween birthday. James was born on October 31, 1939 in New York, New York. James was predeceased by his parents, Germaine McAvoy Hodges and James Harrison Hodges of New York, N. Y. and his maternal grandparents, Eva McAvoy and James Leon McAvoy. He was the devoted brother of Germaine Hodges of Sound Beach, Long Island, the cousin of Barbara Bretey Brown, the son-in-law of Agnes Dziadus Romayko, the uncle of Gary Alan Romayko, Sarah Romayko Sperry, Christopher Sperry and Mia Reagan Sperry, Christopher Robart and Alexander Robart, the brother-in-law of Elisabeth Romayko and Andrew Robart, and the cousin of Paula Dziadus DeBlois, Lauren DeBlois and Richard Dziadus. He is survived by his remarkable wife of thirty six years, Janit Romayko James' passion for learning began at the McBurney School in New York under the guidance of exceptional chemistry and math faculty. James excelled in the sciences yet pursued the classics, and embraced the arts. James was the essence of Manhattan museums and spent days in the Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of Modern Art in the pursuit of knowledge. As a result of this broad exposure he developed an interest in the field of mechanical engineering. He pursued his undergraduate degree and then worked for the Boeing Company and later for Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation where he was involved in the analysis of the reaction control system for the NSAS Lunar Module. James then graduated with his Ph.D. in 1970 from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey. James was a faculty member of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Department of Engineering, Troy, New York and Hartford, Connecticut, from 1970 to 2006 and served as the Chair of Engineering for nearly 20 years. He specialized in the areas of thermodynamics, heat transfer and combustion and served as a consultant to Combustion Engineering/ABB, United Technologies Corporation and Hamilton Standard. In the late 70s, he participated in the Summer Faculty Program at Exxon Mobil Research and Bell Labs developing a method for temperature profile prediction in pressurized fluid bed combustors. He then joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts as Visiting Associate Professor and worked on the mathematical modeling of atmospheric fluidized bed combustors with the National Science Foundation Industry-Technology Program. James also taught at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut in the joint Rensselaer-Trinity Biomedical Engineering Program in the areas of combustion, gas dynamics and tissue regeneration. James was an active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Automotive Engineers., the Hartford Track Club and the Silk City Striders. James was a student and patron of the performing arts at Trinity College, Real Art Ways, and Wesleyan University and was thankful for the patience of Ruth and Jim at Son-A-Day, Coventry, Connecticut and for the skilled brilliance of Noah Baerman in the MALS/GLSProgram at Wesleyan, University, Middletown, Connecticut. James was a proud member of the Manchester Community Response Team and served at the Emergency Operation Center with the HAM radio team. Early in his retirement, he joined the Policy Working Group of the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund and the volunteer fundraising group of the New England Air Museum. Most often, though, he was skilled sailor on the waters of Long Island Sound and Fisher's Island/Flat Hammock on his Pearson 30' "Runaway III." James also raced Solings, Melges, MIT Tech Dinghys, flew Cessna 150s and 180s and restored a 1937 MG D Type Roadster, 1961 MGA, and a 1954MGTD. James was a member of the New England TD Register having won "Best New Restoration" in 2010 at Mystic, CT. James leaves his special neighbors, Pauline DiPinto and Don Hettrick, devoted friends, Mary and Charles Baltronis, "adopted" ski patrollers, Joe Wojcik, Martha and Susan Zimmerman, Irene Myers, Teri Bacharz, Lawrence Cohen and John Shapazian and lifelong friends, Florence McArdle and Harvey Saffron. James' family is thankful for the respectful care given by Barbara Phillips, M.D., Holly, Jill, Nora, Rachel and the staff of the Family Medicine Center, LLC of Manchester, Connecticut. A visitation will be held on Saturday, October 29, 2011 beginning at 9:00am at the John Tierney Funeral Home, 219 West Center Street, Manchester, Connecticut 06040 followed by a service of remembrance at the Gilead Congregational Church, Route 85 and Meeting House Road, Hebron, Connecticut 06248 at 10:30am. Reverend Edmund Meincke will preside. Burial will follow immediately after at the Sterling Cemetery, Greenport, New York. A celebration reception of James' life and birthday will be held on Monday, October 31, 2011, from 5pm to 8pm at the Mystic Shipyard's Mystic River Yachting Center. Please RSVP by October 28, 2011 with a call to the John Tierney Funeral Home with your name/s to 860-643-1222. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Friends of Valley Falls, PO Box 2008, Vernon, CT. 06066-1408. To extend online expressions of sympathy, please visit: www.tierneyfuneralhome.com