James E. Hurzeler, 94

PALOS VERDES, Calif. — James E. Hurzeler, 94, died in his sleep on July 5, 2012.

He was born in Battle Mountain, Nev. in 1918, and was raised in Wyoming and Colorado, alongside his parents, Ed and Clara and his sister, Nathelle Stollens, who is now living in Washington state.

He lived in Monte Vista prior to deploying for World War ll and married Coleen McDonald of Monte Vista. Jim served during World War ll in the Army Signal Corps., from Normandy to the heart of Germany. He served for a total of 13 years in both the regular Army and the Reserves.

He enjoyed a long career in the aerospace industry in Southern Calif. He was with North American Aviation for over 30 years. During his time at North American, which became Rockwell, he worked on projects ranging from the X-15 rocket plane to the Apollo Program. He was proud to work on the B-70 and the HIMAT programs, as well as the B-1 bomber. Jim concluded his career as the head of Quality Assurance Research and Development for the B-2 stealth bomber, working at Northrop Aviation.

Jim was an active ham radio operator for most of his adult life, going by the call letters N6TKL. He was also one of the founding members of NART (the Neighborhood Amateur Radio Team), an emergency radio network for Palos Verdes.

He had several loves in his life, his family, including two grandkids and three great-grand kids, his career, the home in Palos Verdes, his guitars and music and his country. But, above all, he loved his wife.

Jim is survived by his wife of 70 years, Coleen, his daughter, Pam, and son, Don. Jim and Coleen lived together in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. for nearly 60 years.