James W. Jablonski, age 73, died peacefully on Tuesday, February 26, 2019, in the presence of his wife Susie. He was born August 29, 1946, in Chicago, the first (and only baby-blue eyed child) of Cecelia and Walter Jablonski. Jim was often compared to Steve McQueen, but only cuter. Jim attended Illinois Institute of Technology for his bachelors and then Texas A & M for his master's degree in engineering. He was really, really good at math. Really good. He worked at Lockheed Martin as a design engineer. Jim never talked about his work for fear of breaching national security. However, we knew he was some kind of rocket scientist. And as smart as Jim was, he never made you feel insecure for not understanding the theory behind aircraft aerodynamics, and such. Or even simple math. But, he was always willing to teach you if you showed an interest. When Jim wasn’t keeping the skies safe from rogue attacks from the enemy, he enjoyed tennis, watching the Chicago Bears, and Chicago Cubs. He also built and then flew remote control airplanes, only crashing a few. Jim also enjoyed driving fast in trucks, sports cars and was pretty quick with the remote control. Lately, landing too frequently on the show, “Gunsmoke.” One of Jim’s favorite adages was: Don’t let the turkeys get you down. And he never did.
Jim is survived by his wife Susie. They were married in Chicago in 1969 - this being their 50th wedding anniversary. He is also survived by his sister Nancy (Don Dobczyk), sister Sandra (William Kahn), brother Daniel (Teresa),sister Judy Agosto, sister Marcia (Steve Falconer), and sister Susan Weyhrauch as well as a host of nieces, nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews. And his two dogs: Kiki and Mia, who he often warned you not to trip on. Toot-a-loo.
