James Gish Dennis

James Gish Dennis died October 28, 2016, in INOVA Fairfax Hospital, Fairfax, Virginia. He was born April 1, 1926, in House #9 on the property of the Lehigh Portland Cement Company in the Sandts Eddy village of Lower Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, the son of Henry B. and Olive Gertude (Hoff) Dennis. His wife, Elizabeth Agnes (E. Verna Wambold) Dennis passed in 1999. Jim attended elementary schools in Forks Township and graduated from Easton High School, Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1943. After a short employment as a mail clerk at General Aniline and Film Corporation, he heard the call for our country and joined the Army's Air Force division. He served as a mechanic at the Torretto air base in the area of Cerignola, Italy, flying seventeen missions as a tail gunner in the B-24 Liberator. After the victories in Europe and Japan with an honorable discharge he completed a self-study course in Mechanical Engineering with the International Correspondence Schools using the GI bill. He applied his studies to employment at the Easton Car & Construction Company as a draftsman rising from "the board" to chief engineer for mobile heavy load equipment. In 1966 he took the position of chief engineer at the City Tank Corporation in Culpeper, Virginia, whereat he is the inventor of two patents for solid waste truck body mechanisms. He then managed the Federal Reserve System underground facility in Culpeper County whereat he rose to senior vice president before retiring. Jim and his wife, Betty, toured the US and Canada in their recreational vehicle eventually acquiring a winter home in Clearwater, Florida. Jim was a member of the 461st "Liberaider" Bombardment Group (H) and The Smithsonian Institution. He enjoyed memories of his grandfather Hoff's farm while tending to his property and took meticulous care of his home and vehicles. Surviving are children Timothy of Granby, Connecticut, Deborah Dennis Kammeter and husband Linny of Henrico County, Virginia, and Terrence and wife Linda of Culpeper County. Six grandchildren, Timothy, Kathleen, George, Dennis, Michael, and Zachary; and two great-grandchildren Campbell and Haven. His sister Jeane Marae Rogers pre-deceased him. His two adopted feral cats, Big Cat (BC) and Little Cat (LC) also miss him. A service will be conducted on January 4, 2017, at 2 p.m. at the Culpeper National Cemetery, where he will be interred. Donations in Jim's name may be made to Culpeper Felines and Friends, PO Box 533, Culpeper, VA 22701 www.culpeperfelinesnfriends.org. Condolences may be given at clore-english.com Arrangements have been entrusted to Clore-English Funeral Home, 11190 James Monroe Highway, Culpeper, Virginia.