James Sidles, 1932-2011

The Seymour Herald - 2 June 2011
---------------------------

  James Sidles, 78, of Richfield, Ohio passed away peacefully at his home on May 12, 2011.  Proceeded in death by his parents, Selma and Peter, of Jerome, Iowa, wife JoAnn (nee McCord) Sidles of Centerville, Iowa, brother Howard, and brother Harry; he is survived by his daughter, Sherry Downey, of Richland, OH, son, James Paul Sidles, of Litchfield, IL, and sister, Virginia Bay, of Venice, FL.

  Jim, as he was better known to family and friends, grew up on the Peter Sidles farm in Jerome, Iowa, attended the Jerome elementary school through the eighth grade, and graduated from Seymour High School in 1950. He proudly served his country in the U.S. Navy for three years as an officer on battleships, attaining the rank of Lieutenant JG, after having graduated from Iowa State University with an engineering degree. He then relocated to the Akron, Ohio area, and worked as a research engineer briefly for Firestone, and then for B. F. Goodrich, where he spent the rest of his career working in the field of rubber, plastics, and polymer research, with an emphasis on the design and manufacture of commercial jet airliner brakes, passenger tires, race car tires, and many other projects.

  He had a number of patents filed for his inventions. He retired from B. F. Goodrich after 30 years of service, and enjoyed his retirement doing what he loved to do best. He was an avid reader of non-fiction, and was always challenging himself to learn something new. He loved spending timed with his two grandchildren and watching them grow up. They were the greatest joy of his life; along with his passion for music. He sang in the choir at Richfield United Church of Christ for 45 years, rarely missing a Sunday. He was able to participate in his choir's annual Easter Cantata shortly before his death. He was a kind, loving, generous father, grandfather, brother, friend, co-worker, and member of his church choir, who were like family to him. He will be dearly missed by all whose lives he touched.

  Cremation has taken place in accordance with his wishes. A memorial service is planned for Thursday, June 9th at 7 PM at eh United Church of Christ in Richfield.

---------------------------

Akron Beacon Journal - 19 May 2011

Transcribed from Ohio.com on 7 June 2011

---------------------------

  James Sidles, 78, of Richfield, passed away at his home Wednesday, May 12, 2011.
  Preceded in death by his parents, Selma and Peter; wife, JoAnn; brothers, Howard and Harry; he is survived by his daughter, Sherry Downey; son, James Paul Sidles; beloved grandchildren, Michael and Justin Downey; twin brother, Peter Sidles; and sister, Virginia Bay.

James Sidles, 1932-2011

  He proudly served his country in the U.S. Navy for three years as an officer on battleships, attaining the rank of Lieutenant JG, after having graduated from Iowa State University with an engineering degree. He worked as a research engineer briefly for Firestone, and then for B. F. Goodrich, where he spent the rest of his career working in the field of rubber, plastics, and polymer research, with an emphasis on the design and manufacture of commercial jet airliner brakes, passenger tires, race car tires, and many other projects.

  He had a number of patents filed for his inventions. He retired from B. F. Goodrich after 30 years of service, and enjoyed his retirement doing what he loved to do best. He was an avid reader of non-fiction, and was always challenging himself to learn something new. He loved spending time with his two grandchildren and watching them grow up. They were the greatest joy of his life, along with his passion for music. He sang in the choir at Richfield United Church of Christ for 45 years, rarely missing a Sunday. He was able to participate in his choir's annual Easter Cantata shortly before his death. He was a kind, loving, generous father, grandfather, brother, friend, co-worker, and member of his church choir, who were like family to him. He will be dearly missed by all whose lives he touched.
  Cremation has taken place in accordance with his wishes. A memorial service is planned for Thursday, June 9th at 7 p.m. at the United Church of Christ in Richfield, 4340 Streetsboro Rd., Richfield, OH 44286. (Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel)

----------------------------

  Editor's Note:  James Sidles was born 29 June 1932 in Jerome, Lincoln Township, Appanoose County, Iowa, son of Peter and Selma (Johnson) Sidles.  He married on 6 March 1955 in the First Methodist Church in Centerville, Iowa, JoAnn McCord, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul McCord of Centerville, Iowa. He passed away on 12 March 2011 at his home in Richfield, Ohio.

James Sidles 

from a picture of Friends of the Richfield Branch Library on the cover of

The Richfield Times Magazine, Volume 31, No. 3 (March 2010)

  James Sidles secured a long list of patents during his professional career.  His first United States patent registered in 1961 related to an Apparatus for Measuring Vibrations of a Vehicle [US 2,995,927]. While nearly all of his patents were related to tires, his final patent in 2002 was for a Rotating Seed Drill [US 6,357,369 B1] in the field of agriculture.