James William Jennings

James William Jennings of Colorado Springs, Colorado, died Sunday, April 12, 2020 at the age of 88.

Jim, as he was known to friends, family, and colleagues, was a petroleum engineer by training and education but would try his hand at almost anything, usually with successful results. Throughout his life he was an early adopter of broadcast and computer technology, building a color TV and a home computer from kits for his family. He was also a ham radio operator, broadcasting under the callsign W5EUT.

Born in Luling, Texas, on September 23, 1931, Jim graduated high school at age 16. Afterward, his family moved to Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado, where they built log cabins and furniture to open a guest ranch. Jim returned to carpentry often throughout his life, building everything from custom cabinets for his house in Texas and his daughter’s house in Colorado Springs, to furniture and musical instruments: his creations included several guitars and violins, a mandolin, an Appalachian mountain dulcimer, and a Baroque string instrument called a viola de gamba.

Jim’s academic career wound across the country; his next stop after high school was Colorado School of Mines (B.S. ’54, M.S. ’58). He conducted petroleum research for the Gulf Research and Development Company before matriculating at the University of Pittsburgh (Ph.D. ’69). He worked as a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Wyoming-Laramie from 1969 to 1976, when he moved to Texas A&M University. He retired from A&M as a professor emeritus — one of six faculty so named on the petroleum engineering department’s website. His research helped to develop natural-gas extraction as a cleaner source of energy for the U.S. and was cited by the ninety-sixth Congress in 1979. Jim returned to Gulf for several years as Vice President of Production Research prior to retiring from A&M.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in geological engineering, Jim joined the Army Corps of Engineers in July 1954 and for two years worked on an aerial photo mapping team stationed in San Francisco. He married Constance Judith Panther in October 1954. They were married until Constance died in October 2008.

His enthusiasm for life and learning was infectious, and he taught his children and grandchildren to understand family history and radio frequencies; to enjoy cooking experiments; and to calculate the area under a curve — all from his kitchen table, most recently in Buena Vista, Colorado.

Jim is survived by a sister, Joy; four children, Jim Jr., Terri, Tom, and Gail; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

-Ruth Moon Mari