A Lifetime, A Legacy: Jim Thatcher
Jim Thatcher's high school picture.
By Dave Bontempo
He was, across several spectrums, eclectic.
Jim Thatcher lived long enough to do it all in his 91 years on earth, which spanned two distinct eras and ended March 24.
In the pre-Avalon realm, his imprint graced Cornell University, military service, and the product development and sales force at the DuPont company in Delaware. For the last several decades, his retirement footprint found the Avalon sand, its free public library, and various community organizations. Thatcher became a fixture here, a perpetual helping hand. Low-key, yet highly effective. Dependable. Kind.
Mr. Thatcher is recalled as a devoted brother, loving uncle, loyal friend, dry-witted entrepreneur and engaging volunteer by those who knew him best. He also displayed panache, whether by summarizing a situation with a quip or filling out The New York Times crossword puzzle in ink.
Nearly six months after his passing, Mr. Thatcher’s extended family share their celebration of his life with Seven Mile Times readers.
They cite good times, good food, good wine, and a very good man. His biggest gift to them was not one outstanding memory, but a lifetime of notable ones.
“We had a really great run together,” his brother Richard says from Long Beach Island, to which he gravitated to during retirement. At 87, Richard fondly remembers his big brother.
“What comes to mind first is that he always had a gift as an intellectual, whether we were talking about wines, books, college, whatever. He was always sharp, almost to the end,” Richard remembers.
“The highlights for us really were the family events. There are 16 of us now. At Christmas, birthdays, etc., we had a great time. We ate well, we drank well, we were so happy to be with each other. We have a great family.”
The brothers spread their link over a wide berth. That meant being Eagles season ticket holders at Franklin Field and Veterans Stadium, traveling to Russia, spending the summers of their youth in Avalon, later buying shore homes in different communities and sharing an incessant cribbage rivalry. They saw each other often and spoke on the phone several times during a week. Their Thanksgiving visits were unique. Richard came to Avalon from Long Beach Island and his brother shelved Turkey Day tradition by cooking steak.
“We were very close. When we grew up in Wilmington, and he was five years older, we fought every day,” Richard says with a laugh. “Then we got more mature. He went away to Cornell University [in Ithaca, N.Y.] and later I followed, even joining the same fraternity.”
Here is an excerpt of notable milestones and endearing traits, compiled by Mr. Thatcher’s family for an obituary:
After several moves associated with his father’s employment with DuPont, Mr. Thatcher’s family settled in Wilmington. At Mount Pleasant High School, he excelled in academics and baseball.
Mr. Thatcher earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Cornell and made lifelong friends via his membership in the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, Class of 1956. He graduated as a second lieutenant from Cornell’s ROTC problem and served in Fort Lee, Va.
After military service, Mr. Thatcher joined the “family business,” starting at DuPont in product development and research before gravitating to sales and marketing.
He later became senior vice president of Philadelphia Quartz Company — known as PQ — before retiring from corporate life in 1990.
Along the way, he launched Cirrus Solutions, a chemical marketing consultancy marked by his dry wit. His business card listed the firm’s services as "Gratuitous Advice, Dubious Proposals, Unsolicited Criticism, Esoteric Trivia.” He was an active leader in the Chemical Management and Resources Association and was recognized with a lifetime achievement award in 1994.
Mr. Thatcher, who never married, was a beloved family presence at every Christmas, birthday, graduation, wedding, and birth — the quiet, steady one who noticed everything, said little, and meant a great deal. He was a thoughtful and creative gift giver.
His connection with Avalon began in 1950 when his father purchased the family summer home on Avalon Avenue. He became a year-round resident in the early 1990s, diving headfirst into civic life.
Mr. Thatcher served on the Avalon Historical Society board, and was a founding member of the Avalon Free Public Library board, serving as treasurer. He was active in the Avalon Home and Landowners Association and widely known for greeting all who arrived at Avalon Community Hall for AHLOA’s annual gathering.
Mr. Thatcher loved historical books and biographies of world leaders. He enjoyed the opera, fine French Burgundy, and — in a pairing only he could pull off — an ice-cold Diet Dr. Pepper.
Photography was another joy for Mr. Thatcher, with his poster-sized prints of beach and marsh images and family group portraits a specialty.
He enjoyed an emotionally rich Avalon retirement life and left a mark.
“Jim was down to earth, a regular old-school guy who just wanted to help the community and be involved,” recalls Jacquie Ewing, president of the Avalon Free Public Library Board of Trustees.
“Everything he did for Avalon was totally selfless. He never complained. It was not his nature. From his background, you can tell he came from a time that what you were asked to do, you did. The only thing that could take away from this was Eagles football, Flyers hockey, Phillies baseball, and Sixers basketball,” she adds with a laugh.
“One of his fondest memories, I believe, was being one of the people with shovel in hand breaking ground for the Avalon Free Public Library. He was involved every day.”
Erin Brown, the library’s director, saw his contributions firsthand for many years. "Mr. Thatcher was an excellent steward of taxpayer funds connected with the library," she asserts. "He could be a conscientious objector if a proposed expenditure didn’t look right but was otherwise … simply conscientious."
“He was an invaluable mentor,” Brown recalls. “When I think of Jim, what comes to mind first was his intelligence, his sharp wit, and that he was a tireless supporter for Avalon.
“I was so fond of my interactions,” she adds, smiling. “It was hard to imagine one that did not include a special quip or a twinkle in his eye. The quip was always there if you looked for it.”
Many would view it fitting for Mr. Thatcher to be closely aligned with the Avalon Free Public Library. To them, his life was a long, page-turning bestseller.
