James Harris Link

James “Jimmy” Harris Link, WWII Veteran, of Hampton, Virginia, born in Donald, South Carolina on December 2, 1923 and passed away peacefully in his home on Sunday, August 30, 2020 at the age of 96 surrounded by family.

Born to Thomas Edgar Link, Sr and Dorothy “Dolly” (Saxon) he graduated from Williamston High School in May of 1942 and was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) founded on March 3, 1915 in Hampton, VA as a model maker.

Jimmy was drafted by the U.S. Army for the U.S. Army Air Corps in late 1942. He attended boot camp at Keesler, Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. After boot camp he was sent to Seattle Washington to attend the U.S. Army’s Mechanic Training School where he trained to maintain and repair B-29 Bombers in line with his training and employment at NACA. Following training, Jimmy was stationed in the Pacific Theater of Operations on the island of Guam at Harmon Field where he served as a B-29 Bomber Mechanic. He was an active soldier through the end of WWII.

Following the end of WWII, Jimmy returned to civilian life and employment at NACA. In October of 1958, NACA was dissolved and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was officially formed absorbing NACA as a direct result of the Soviet launch of Sputnik on Oct. 4, 1957. NASA was founded with the goal of developing U.S. space flight capability to compete against the Soviet Technological Space Program success. Jimmy became a part of the Project Mercury Space Program and its primary goal was the development of United States Space Program to put the first U.S. man-in-space with the Mercury-Gemini Space Shuttle Program. Jimmy was an active civilian employee of NASA for 38 years, retiring in 1980. Many of his models are currently on display at the Hampton Air and Space Museum in downtown Hampton, Virginia, which was founded in November 20, 1972 to provide an educational facility in Hampton, Virginia to commemorate NASA Langley’s contribution to Aeronautics and Space Programs.

On December 17, 1953, Jimmy married Mildred Phyllis Jane (Christenson), who predeceased him on May 1, 2014 after more than six decades of marriage. Together they created a home in Hampton, Virginia and went on to raise two children, James Raymond (m. Patricia Ellen Shelby) and William Michael (m. Sharon Audrey M’Sadoques) and were blessed with the addition of multiple grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Jimmy and Mildred were active members of First United Methodist Church in Hampton, Virginia. They relished their relationships built there over the years with congregational members in the service of God’s work and worship. Mildred was an active member of the United Methodist Women’s Circle and taught Children’s Sunday School. Jimmy was involved with various committees to include the Property Committee and volunteered regularly for maintenance and upkeep of the church and grounds. As Patriarch and Matriarch of the Link Family, Jimmy and Mildred are missed by the family they created and loved throughout their lifetime. May they rest in peace knowing they provided love and guidance to all those they served and loved.

Daddy,

We would like to thank you for all that you did for us to get us ready for life. You were the most wonderful Daddy in the world, and we loved you. You started by getting us in Sunday school and MYF. This taught us about God, Jesus, family, love, values, and provided the foundation for a solid faith and soul.

Throughout our lives you made sure to live and be the example of a good father by showing us how faith was important and integral in everything in life. Your dedication and love of your work helped to push humanity forward through your work at NASA and motivated us to work in positions that served people and made life better. Your work at NASA on the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle was instrumental in Ray’s interest in Science and our interest in working with wood. Your precision in wood-based models at NASA is the basis in thinking dedication leads to excellence in all we put our minds to doing.

We will always think fondly of your love of the outdoors and how you taught us how to rough it camping, and appreciate what nature provides. Your love of hunting and the funny adventures you shared with Jack Appleby and David Beasley will always bring a smile to our faces. We will also think fondly of the many opportunities camping provided to see things, do things like ride in glass bottom boats, see shows, go hiking, learn about nature, and go fishing.

We would like to thank you for helping us be the best we could be by helping us with our college tuition. This allowed us to pursue jobs we loved doing and to serve people through fire-fighting and teaching. Your dedication to helping Ray overcome many of the obstacles that came with his low vision may not have cured him: but you found ways to help him with technology. This allowed him to work for himself and we appreciate that dedication to fixing things. That thinking of where there is a will there is a way, created the I can and will work ethic we have today.

Mike and I would like to thank you for being such a wonderful father in-law to our wives and grandfather to their children. We decided not to have children because they would likely inherit low vision. We both married women with children and you loved those children and welcomed our wives and your grandkids with open arms.

In closing, thank you for all that you did through persistence and example. We would not be who we are today. Now celebrate a life well lived in Heaven because God, Jesus, momma, and family have been waiting a long time for you to complete your life’s journey.