James Arthur Williamson Jr., of Charleston, passed away after a long illness April 6 in North Charleston, S.C. Born December 28, 1930 in Wilmington, N.C., Jim moved to North Charleston during his high school years. A graduate of Charleston’s Bishop England High School in 1948 and The Citadel in 1957, Jim attended Clemson University after High School until being called to serve in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was stationed at several locations along the east coast before being honorably discharged at the end of the conflict. In 1954, he married Hannah Love Felton of North Charleston. Three of their four children, Richard, Theresa, and Michael, were born in Charleston while he earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at The Citadel. In 1959, the family moved to Savannah, where Jim worked for Union Camp Paper and son Neal was born. The family moved to Clemson in 1961 where Jim earned his Master of Science in Analytical Chemistry at Clemson University. His graduate research there and two years of post-graduate studies included assessing the safety of pesticides used to protect peach crops from insect damage – a role he would take up again near the end of his working career with DuPont in Newark. Jim accepted an offer from The DuPont Company in 1964 at the Kinston, N.C. Dacron production plant where he led conversion of Dacron production from DMT briquettes to molten DMT dramatically reducing degradation of the Dacron startup material. While in Kinston, Jim played an active leadership role as an adult leader in the Boy Scouts of America at the Troop and District level. In 1970, DuPont transferred Jim and the family to Newark, Delaware and the Glasgow Instrument Products Division of the company. While working in Instrument Products, Jim earned three patents for DuPont for nitrogen oxides (NO/NO2 1973)(NOx 1976), and a gas analysis sensor to monitor emissions from power plants (1977). DuPont moved Jim into biomedical products at the Glasgow site where he led the development of more than half of the new tests used in the DuPont Automatic Clinical Analyzer – a revolutionary capability at the time that provided automated blood and body fluid test results and was directly responsible for improved emergency care for patients. As a hobby, he participated in and was president of the Delaware Brandywine Motorsport Club enjoying both Autocross and Road Rally events. Jim’s four children attended either Newark or Christiana High Schools and the University of Delaware. He finished his long career at DuPont’s Stine-Haskell Research Center conducting agricultural and toxicology chemical research including developing a range of replacements for Freon R-12 refrigerant that contained CFCs. During his career at DuPont, Jim wrote more than 13 scientific papers for publication, actively participated in leadership positions for the American Chemical Society (ACS) and Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies. He was recognized in 2018 for 60 years of service by the South Carolina Section of the ACS. In 1985, Jim and Hannah Williamson divorced after 31 years of marriage and he married Elizabeth Ann Queenan that same year. After retirement from DuPont, Jim moved to Lincolnville ME and served on the Town Land Use Committee and was recognized for his service in 2004. He later moved to Canton NC outside Asheville and finally back to Charleston in 2013 where he lived until his death in April. Jim was a lifelong artist in the areas of wood working and painting. He is survived by his second wife of 34 years, Elizabeth, former wife, Hannah and son Neal of Camden, ME, son Richard (Lt.Col. USAF Ret) of Yorba Linda, CA, and daughter, Theresa of Lewes. He is also survived by his sisters Ann of Advance, NC and Carol of Baltimore, grandchildren Brian, Casey, Jaime, Krista, and Alexander and great grandchildren James and Theodore. He was laid to rest in Riverview Memorial Park Cemetery in North Charleston overlooking the Ashley River.
Posted in: The News Journal
Posted on: 2019-05-29
Link to original obituary: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/delawareonline/obituary.aspx?n=james-arthur-williamson&pid=192996458