FlawlessWalrus

James Wilson Bain
James Wilson Bain, beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, teacher and friend to many passed away after a long illness on Tuesday, February 26, 2008. Born June 13, 1922 in Glasgow, Scotland, James was the son of Gertrude Rosina (Warren) Bain and John Bain and the brother of John Warren Bain. His mother passed away in 1927 and in 1929 the family immigrated to the United States and lived for several years in Braintree, MA and Martha’s Vineyard. They eventually settled in White Plains, NY where Jim graduated from high school. He attended University of Richmond on a shared scholarship with his brother, where he majored in mathematics and physics. Upon graduation from Richmond, he enlisted in the Navy and spent the bulk of World War II on the submarine USS Sea Poacher, in the Pacific. His beloved older brother John was killed in action during World War II, at the Battle of the Bulge. After the war he went to Columbia University where he received his Master’s Degree in Education. He met his first wife, Martha Virginia Harrington in 1946 and they were married on June 14, 1947. They moved to Connecticut when Jim was hired by the Glastonbury Board of Education as a high school math and physics teacher. He dedicated 40 years to the education of Glastonbury youngsters. His high expectations prepared many of his students to go on to careers in engineering and related fields and his patience and kindness helped those who were not so inclined to a better understanding of the nature of mathematics. He served many years as chess club advisor, Math League advisor, class advisor and other extra-curricular activities. He is remembered fondly by all those who were fortunate enough to have been in his classes. He also worked as an adjunct teacher of statistics at Central Connecticut State University. Jim was a 55 year member of the Masons and enjoyed his many associations at Daskam -Columbia Lodge in Glastonbury where he served as Master in the 1960′s. He was an active member of the Second Church of Christ, Scientist in Hartford until 1990 when he moved to Florida. Jim spent 10 years in Leesburg, FL and returned to Connecticut in 2000, living first in Manchester, then in Windham and for the last five years, in the Court of St. James Retirement Community in West Hartford. He enjoyed an active social life in West Hartford, was a member of the West Hartford First Baptist Church, the Regents, was a tutor for the town of West Hartford at Hillcrest House in Elmwood and volunteered at Loaves and Fishes. He enjoyed many friendships at the Court of St. James, particularly his pool and card game buddies. Jim loved all kinds of games and was an avid cribbage player, crossword puzzler and sudoku solver. He was an insatiable reader and spent many hours in the West Hartford Public Library. Although an expert in math and science, he was blessed with a remarkable sense of language and loved creating word games and challenging his children to vocabulary tests. Even at the end of his life, he spent many hours on freerice.com, the vocabulary challenge game, always reaching the top level. Jim was very proud of his Scottish heritage and for the last 10 years made an annual pilgrimage to Loon Mountain in New Hampshire for the Scottish Highland Games. A world traveler, he visited many countries in Europe as well as New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and the Caribbean. He was particularly thrilled to be able to return to his native Scotland in 1969 with his wife and four of his children. He became reacquainted with cousins, aunts and uncles he hadn’t seen for 40 years. James was predeceased by his beloved first wife and mother of his six children, Martha, after almost 37 years of marriage and his cherished grandson Alexander Harrington Lomasky. He was also predeceased by his devoted second wife Alice G. Jackson Bain. He and Alice met at a support group for those who had lost their spouses to cancer, and were married for 15 years. He leaves to mourn his passing his six children and their spouses; Margaret Warren Bain Hamm (Robert), of Merrimack, NH, Priscilla Gardiner Bain Cote (Richard), of West Hartford, CT, Martha Verrinder Bain DiTomasso (James), of Wethersfield, CT, Dorothy Brewster Bain Raviele (Michele), with whom he made his home, of Farmington, CT, Mary Elizabeth Bain Brown (William), of West Hartford, CT and John Harlan Bain (Karen), of Olney, MD. He also leaves his grandchildren James Hamm (Susan), Andrew Hamm (Carol Ann), Rebecca Hamm, Louis Lomasky (Lisa), Elizabeth Lomasky Moemeka (Ed), Linda Lomasky , Maria Elena Raviele, Marta Raviele, Julia DiTomasso, Michael DiTomasso, Ian Brown, Graham Brown, Elizabeth Brown, Daniel Bain, Henry Bain and two great-grandchildren, Oke Alexander Moemeka and Eddie Moemeka, as well as his step-daughter Sharon Baker and her daughter Kristy Dorris, of Florida. The family wishes to thank all those who contributed to Jim’s care during the last months of his life; the staff of UCONN Health Center Cardiac Step-down Unit and ICU, the staff of West Hartford Health Care and Rehab Center, the VNA of Hartford and his nurse Linda, his day-care aide Michelle, his many friends from First Baptist Church and all his friends and colleagues who kept in touch with him till the end. Jim will be sorely missed by all those who loved him. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Shriners Hospital, 516 Carew St. Springfield, MA 01104, First Baptist Church, 90 North Main St. West Hartford, CT or VNA Health Care, 103 Woodland St. Hartford, CT, 06105. The Taylor Modeen Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Family and friends will be received Thursday evening, February 28 from 5:00-8:00 pm. at the Taylor Modeen Funeral Home, 136 South Main St, West Hartford. A memorial service will be held on Friday February 29 at 12:00 at First Baptist Church in West Hartford. Burial will be at the convenience of the family.

Borrowed from The Hartford Courant

Edward D. Klonoski, the president of a state agency designed to promote distance learning, has been tapped to lead Charter Oak State College, a school focused on distance learning.The appointment is in some ways a homecoming for Klonoski, who previously served as Charter Oak’s director of information technology.

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The R4 (R4DS)

A sweet DS flash cart for running homebrew and other less than legal things. I have a GBA flash card, and loved it, but it’s been obsoleted. Now that the R4 is pretty much the standard, I feel like it’d be a great addition to my increasingly niche gaming collection.

Expected Price: Around $40
Where to buy: GameYeeeah.com

Logitech mm50 Portable Speakers for iPod

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Expected Price: No more than $100
Where to buy: J&R, Amazon

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Expected Price: One BILLION dollars!
Where to buy: World Food Programme

Western Digital 500GB My Book

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Expected Price: Around $120
Where to buy: Amazon

Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii

The best Wii game to date, and I don’t have it.

Expected Price: No more than $50
Where to buy: Any store that sells video games

New Earbuds

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Expected Price: Less than $25
Where to buy: Anywhere online… these are nice.