James 'Jim' Kuneman, U.S. Navy veteran
James (Jim) Edward Kuneman passed Feb. 20, 2013, in his home in Liverpool, N.Y. Jim grew up in Lewes, and a service will be held in his memory at 4 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 22, at Lewes Presbyterian Church, 133 Kings Highway.
Jim worked at the Anglers docks as a teenager, and attended Lewes High School. He was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy where he studied advanced math and science, managed the tennis team, and sang in the choir before graduating in 1963 when he was commissioned at the rank of ensign in the U.S. Navy. One of 138 graduates to enter the Navy Nuclear Program, he served aboard the USS James Monroe, a ballistic missile submarine, until his honorable discharge in 1969 at the rank of lieutenant commander. In 1964, he married Suzanne Vincent (1941-82), also of Lewes.
Jim continued working as a consulting mechanical engineer after his retirement from a 30-year design and management career with General Electric, cum Martin Marietta, cum Lockheed Martin, where he produced technological innovation for use in naval and aerospace applications in Pittsfield, Mass., and the Syracuse, N.Y. areas. He earned an MBA from Syracuse University in 1986, and designed software for use in systems management.
In retirement, Jim enjoyed a rich social life; he belonged to a number of area clubs, danced, fished, boated, as well as traveled summers to the waters of his childhood home in Delaware. Jim also made the trek to the legendary Army-Navy football game each year with friends (GO NAVY!). He enjoyed visiting family and researching the rich genealogy of the family. Jim brought an engineer's lens to study of life's puzzles in his spare time.
Jim touched and made an impact on everyone with whom he came in contact. He is survived by brothers, William Kuneman and Leo Edward Kuneman Jr.; half brother, Stanley John Johnson Jr.; and daughters Lisa Anne Kuneman, Briana Mae Kuneman, Jamie S.K. Bruton, and Mary Margaret Hoskins. He is also survived by four grandchildren, Justin James Kuneman, Martin Kuneman Zappala, Conor Thomas Bruton, and Cian James Bruton.
