Born on the 18th of December 1920, on a farm near Bonham, Fannin County, Texas, he was number six of seven children and lived on the farm until he was nine years old. He and his family moved to Henderson, Texas as the East Texas oil field was starting up, and finally settled in Tyler where he finished high school. While attending high school Jim worked part time at a wholesale candy and tobacco house doing odd jobs. After graduating from high school he began working there full time. Jim decided right away he had to “boot strap” his way out of his $12.00 per week pay check and started taking engineering classes at Tyler Junior College. He finished in the summer of 1941. Next, Jim made his way to Austin where, with the help of a job at Scottish Rite Dormitory first washing dishes and later as a waiter, he was able to enter the school of Engineering at The University of Texas.
In June of 1943, after WWII broke out, he was called up by the US Navy and ordered to report to engineering midshipman’s school at Columbia University in New York City. Jim received his commission in the US Navy in October of 1943 and finished his training at Diesel School, first at North Carolina State, then General Motors Tech in Flint, Michigan.
In April of 1944 Jim was assigned as the Chief Engineer on the LST 1020 and set to sea from Quincy, Massachusetts. The ship headed for Europe in a large convoy of 25 ships with escorts. The crew assumed they were headed to Normandy but were diverted to Naples, Italy, to prepare for the Southern France landing on the 15th of August 1944. By late December of the same year, Jim returned to the states. He soon volunteered to be the Chief Engineer on another LST, The U.S. 1019, and headed to the South Pacific.
He returned to Texas in February of 1946 where he was formally discharged from the Navy. Jim headed back to Austin where he completed his Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration degrees from The University of Texas at Austin.
Upon graduation Jim began his career with Clark Brothers, a Division of Dresser, and lived in many locations including Olean, New Orleans, Chicago, London, Brussels, and Shreveport, Louisiana. It was in Shreveport where Margaret Berry caught Jim’s eye. They were married on the 29th of June 1963, in El Dorado, Arkansas. Jim always said that Margaret was the “best thing that ever happened” to him. They moved back to Houston in 1972 and raised their two children. Jim and Margaret enjoyed 51 years of marriage until her death in 2014.
Jim’s long years of service in the oil and gas industry are unparalleled. He retired from Dresser in 1986 as President of The International Division of Dresser Machinery, where he had worked for 37 ½ years. On the following day Jim began his final career with Compressor Engineering Corporation as Vice President of Sales. He enjoyed 31 years at CECO and was an integral part of the CECO family until his death.
Jim was a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the highest distinction any Mechanical Engineer can achieve. He received the Edward N. Henderson Award from the Gas Machinery Research Council. He was the oldest active registered professional engineer in five states. He was a member of the GMRC and the Houston Engineering Society. Jim was a mentor to many young engineers, especially in the area of ethics. He received many awards, too many to list. He authored "How To Sell Technical Equipment and Services," published by PennWell in 2005.
Jim was a member of River Oaks Country Club, where he regularly played golf and was very proud of his two hole-in-ones, ten years apart, on the same hole. He was also a member of New Orleans Country Club, The Petroleum Club, The Shreveport Club, and The River Oaks Breakfast Club. Jim was an active member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church and was an usher until February of 2017.
Jim was a good and faithful servant and lived his life with the upmost honesty, integrity, and humility. He always had a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. He never passed up an opportunity to give a compliment and he had a way of making people feel special. He will be greatly missed.
Jim was preceded in death by his bride Margaret Berry Hutton and his six siblings. He is survived by his daughter, Heather Hutton Namendorf and husband Jeffrey S. Namendorf of Austin; son, James E. B. Hutton of Houston; and grandchildren, Nathaniel O. Namendorf and Benjamin Wyatt Namendorf, of Austin.
Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from half-past five o’clock in the afternoon until eight o’clock in the evening on Thursday, the 20th of April, in the parlor and grand foyer of Geo H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.
Following a private interment at Glenwood Cemetery, a memorial service is to be conducted at eleven o’clock in the morning on Friday, the 21st of April, at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road in Houston.
Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the adjacent Bagby Parish Hall.
In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in Jim’s name be directed to The Scottish Rite Dormitory at The University of Texas-Austin, 210 W 27th St, Austin, TX 78705; to St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road, Houston, TX, 77056; or to The Salvation Army, Greater Houston Area Command, 1500 Austin St., Houston, TX, 77002.
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