James Edgerton Hazard

James Edgerton Hazard, born May 16, 1932, in Cleveland, OH to Virginia Perry Hazard and Geoffrey Cornell Hazard, passed away peacefully at home at Kendal in Kennett Square, PA at the age of ninety-two. Affectionately known as Wimpy, Jimmy, Jim, Dadzadad and Grandfather, Jim married the love of his life, the late Ann Davin Hazard, with whom he was happily married for 65 years. He is survived by his sisters Cecily Zerega and Margery Donovan, his five loving children and their spouses, Terry (Art), Ray (Maura), Peggy (Robert), Geoffrey (Jennifer) and John (Eileen), and 11 devoted grandchildren spanning ages 17 to 34, and predeceased by his wife Ann Davin Hazard and brother Geoffrey Cornell Hazard, Jr.

Jim was raised in Kirkwood, MO and in Port Washington, NY. He graduated from MIT in 1954 with a degree in mechanical engineering, later spending most of his career at The Scott Paper Company, later Kimberly Clark in Philadelphia, PA.

After graduation, he got engaged to Ann, and served in the US Army, during which, when stationed in Japan, he wrote her love letters daily. Upon his return, they married and moved to Swarthmore, PA, where they lived until 2005 when they moved to Kendal.

Jim was a man of many talents and hobbies. He was as an avid sailor, including serving as a crew member of the Gazela Primeiro for its 6-week voyage from Portugal to Philadelphia PA to be in the Tall Ship Celebration in 1976. The ship remains in Philadelphia today as a museum.

After learning about his namesake Quaker ancestor, Jim became passionate about genealogy.  In addition to completing his own family tree back to Europe before their arrival in America in 1635, he volunteered for the Swarthmore College Friends Historical Library, where he painstakingly transcribed hundreds of thousands of handwritten Quaker Meeting records into the computer over two decades, making weekly visits to Swarthmore to collect new records.

Jim will be laid to rest next to his beloved wife Ann in the Quaker cemetery at Kendal in Kennett Square, PA. In lieu of flowers, gifts in his memory can be made to the Swarthmore College Friends Historical Library or to the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of James Edgerton Hazard, please visit our floral store.