James Edward Law passed away on November 8, 2018, at St. Johnsville (NY) Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. He was born in 1920, in Truxton, NY to Merrill David and Ellen Della (Lynch) Law. He would have been 98 this month.
James grew up in Cortland, NY and attended high school through tenth grade. After moving to Buffalo, NY in 1937, he worked as a bicycle messenger for Western Union and an oil delivery driver for Terminal Petroleum. He served in the U.S. Navy, Construction Battalion in the South Pacific from September 1943 to December 1945.
After the war, James returned to work at Terminal Petroleum and then Pease Oil in Buffalo. He married Helen Maedl in 1946 and they built a home in West Seneca, NY. After working as a milkman for Cloverleaf Dairy, in 1957 he became a regional salesman for Macklanburg-Duncan Builders Hardware, servicing upstate New York and Vermont.
In 1968 James and Helen moved to Fultonville, NY and ran the Cloverleaf Motel until 1982. While in Fultonville, James served as Justice of the Town of Glen and as an ambulance driver for the Fonda-Fultonville Volunteer Ambulance Corps. He attended Fonda-Fultonville United Methodist Church where he was treasurer and a member of the board.
James and Helen retired to Keller, TX; to Ocala, FL; and to Saratoga Springs, NY. Following Helen’s death in 2012, James lived at Pineview Commons Assisted Living in Johnstown, NY.
James held a private pilot’s license and was qualified to fly seven different models of recreational aircraft. He was an avid golfer and gardener, and enjoyed the beauty of nature. He was a warm and generous person, an engaging story-teller, and a lover of children and animals.
James is survived by his son, James M. (Linda) Law of Fultonville, NY; daughter Kathleen (Gerald) Krieger of Worcester, MA; grandson, James Patrick (Lisa) Law of Arlington, TX; granddaughter Courtney Ellen Law of Denver, CO; great-grandson, Rian Patriot Law of Texas; niece, Ruth (Bill) Shupe of Clarence, NY; niece, Mary Ellen (Tony) Sokol of Hinsdale, NY; and family by marriage: granddaughter, Kylie McPherson of Guilderland, NY; great-granddaughter, Avery McPherson and great-grandson, Andrew McPherson of Guilderland, NY.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Helen; sister, Ruth Law; brother, Merrill Sylvester Law; sister, Betty Jean Brume; nephew, William Law; nephew, Robert Maedl; and nephew, David Ailing.
Preparations for a memorial service are incomplete. Interment will take place following the memorial service at Evergreen Cemetery in Fonda, NY.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to Ayres Memorial Animal Shelter, 133 Hilltop Road, Sprakers, NY 12166; or to the USO at www.uso.org.
