Jess Wadhams

PRINCETON – Jess Henry Wadhams, 81, of Princeton, died Friday afternoon, January 9, 2015 at Princeton Community Hospital. Born January 10, 1933 in Dover, NJ, he was the son of the late Jesse Herman Wadhams and Lina Riccardi Wadhams. Jess was a graduate of Dover High School in Dover, New Jersey, Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Alexander Hamilton Business School. He was a veteran of the US Air Force. He was a licensed professional engineer in the states of Massachusetts and Vermont, as well as Ontario, Canada. Jess worked as Engineering Manager at several mining machinery companies in the U.S., as well as Canada. He left the mining machinery industry and then worked with American Lafrance Fire Truck Industry, as well as Volvo Truck Manufacturing in Dublin, Virginia where he retired in 2000. Jess was a member of AIME and ASME. After he retired from Volvo, Jess started his own business, Wadhams Mobile Systems, LLC. He was a certified chimney sweep and enjoyed doing restoration work on chimneys. Jess enjoyed working with cars and trucks and especially enjoyed watching sports car hill climbs and car racing. He was fond of the outdoors and loved to go walking especially in the woods. He fed the deer faithfully on his property, having many come back for their corn meals in the winter. His favorite buddies were his two cats, Pumpkin and Skipper. He was a member of the First Assembly of God Church in Princeton for 14 years. Jess had a lively sense of humor and loved to kid with people. His favorite question to anyone regardless of age was, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” He shared 58 years of marriage with his loving wife, Marlene Kish Wadhams, whom he married on April 21, 1956. In addition to his wife, survivors include his daughter Laurie Marlene and her fiancé Jason Taylor of PA; his brother, Rodney Wadhams and his wife Dorothy of Budd Lake, NJ; as well as nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be conducted at 2:00 p.m. Monday, January 12, 2015 at the Rowland H. Bailey Funeral Chapel of the Bailey-Kirk Funeral Home in Princeton with Pastor Dan Moore officiating. Interment will follow at Resthaven Memorial Park in Princeton. Serving as pallbearers will be Rodney Wadhams, Stephen Kish, Donald Kish, Jason Taylor, Randy Wood and Delmas Devor. In lieu of flowers, the family request memorial contributions may be made to First Assembly of God, 270 Assembly Lane, Princeton, WV 24740 or Union Mission, 2203 Bluefield, Ave., Bluefield, WV 24701. The family will receive friends Monday, January 12, 2015 from 1:00 p.m. until service hour at the Bailey-Kirk Funeral Home in Princeton. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.bailey-kirk.com.

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Jess Wadhams

January 10, 1933 - January 9, 2015