I referred to my dad as a true renaissance man. His interests included practicing hypnosis, scuba diving, painting, making stained glass art and making telescopes from scratch including hand grinding and polishing the optics. He also made the instrument used to measure the accuracy of the mirror curvatures. Two of his favorite telescope were an 8" Newtonian Reflector and an 8" Cassegrain Reflector. The mirrors on these reflector scopes were ground to an accuracy of approximately 1/20 wave, before coating. An amazing feat in itself. When he came to live with us he donated those two scopes and all of their construction notes to The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Astronomy.
Jim was also a World War II veteran and served in the US Army, 3rd Infantry Dv. in the Philippine Islands. One of my proudest moments was a surprise Father's Day gift to him: Last year I arranged for the two of us to go on the "Honor Flight Austin" to Washington DC (I went as a Vietnam War Veteran, serving in the USMC). We toured the US Military memorials and witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
I've attached a photo of us from that flight:
My dad passed away the day before he and my mother would have celebrated 72 years of marriage. He's now with his sweetheart and our Lord. Rest In Peace, Dad. I love you.
Keep on picking'!
Glenn
