James Howard Covington, or Jim as he was known to friends, was born in Alamogordo, NM on March 6th, 1961 to Howard Bailey Covington and Betty Jean Covington. Growing up in Tularosa, NM, he and his younger brother Robert spent their time playing and messing around with gadgets. His father taught them how to build and fix machinery, and the three of them loved rebuilding engines and cars together. These family projects started Jim’s love for engineering, which he pursued by obtaining a degree in Chemical Engineering at Rice University after his family moved to Houston, TX. At Rice, he met his wife, Wendy, during band practice, where they both played the clarinet. They stayed in Houston and started a family, first with dogs and then with their beloved daughters, Sarah and Rachel.
Jim worked for over 30 years for Bayer in various divisions. Jim’s work took him and his family to live in different states and countries. He loved his work and enjoyed novel experiences; he gained many valued colleagues and treasured friends. He and his family particularly loved living in Leverkusen, Germany. They lived on the edge of a city forest, and Jim enjoyed walks with his dogs and daughters. While there, he ensured that his family explored as much of Europe as they could: food, castles, museums, and churches.
Jim loved chile peppers, noir films, detective books, airplanes, car shows, and dogs. He loved the dogs he had throughout his life: Grendel, Watson, Atlas, Titan, Stelle, Raven, Odin, and Vida. They were each part of his family.
Through the many moves, Jim’s love for his birth land of New Mexico endured, particularly his love of the food. His mother always cooked amazing New Mexican cuisine, and once he had his own family, he kept up the tradition of wonderful New Mexican food. Family feasts included fajitas, chile con carne, posole, green chile stew, and pinto beans while listening to Linda Ronstadt sing Canciones De Mi Padre. Just as his father introduced him to his love of technology and engineering, his mother introduced him to a love of food. Jim used food as a way to express his love and gratitude, and he made sure that those who were important to him ate the finest food he could find. One of his favorite things to do would be to take his family and friends to extravagant dinners.
Rather than expressing sympathy with flowers, Jim’s family would prefer that memorial contributions be sent to jamesbeard.org/openforgood or harvesters.org, or of course, any charity you might wish. As his friends and colleagues knew, safety was paramount to Jim. Due to the pandemic, a funeral service will not be held. When people can safely get together again, the family hopes to have some gatherings to remember and celebrate him. In the meantime, his family hopes that you will leave memories on the “memorial wall” at this site. Jim is preceded by his parents and survived by his wife Wendy, his brother Robert, and his daughters Sarah and Rachel.
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