James A. Hinds

James A. Hinds of Walpole, MA passed away peacefully on October 8, 2015 at the Maples Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Wrentham, MA of complications of Alzheimer's Disease. He was born 93 years ago in Winthrop, Maine to William C. Hinds and Mabel (Grover) Hinds. Jim leaves his wife of 68 years, Barbara Allen Hinds and two sons, James W. Hinds and his companion Mary Pat Happ of Walpole, and Philip W. and his wife Kathy Hinds of East Walpole. He also leaves two grandchildren, Lisa Dignan and her husband Christopher of Ashland, MA and John W. Hinds of Lebanon, New Hampshire as well as his sisters, Marjorie McAloney of Peabody Pond, Maine and the late Frances Hinds Howard of La Mesa, California.

Jim enlisted in the United State Marine Corps after Pearl Harbor and served in both the First and Fifth Marine Divisions in World War II, attaining the rank of sergeant. He landed in the first wave on Guadalcanal, also participated in securing New Britain Island and was then sent to Hawaii to help form the Fifth Marine Division. At Iwo Jima he landed with the first wave at Red Beach and later was sent back to Quantico, Virginia to attend Officers' Candidate School. Following his discharge from the Marines he attended the University of Maine at Orono, graduating in 1949 with a B.S. in Public Management. He taught history and social studies at Brewer High School in Brewer, Maine and served as Director of Athletics there for many years. He later moved to Massachusetts to work for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Jim was an avid golfer and an ardent fan of Walpole High School football, the Red Sox and the New England Patriots.

Jim was also proud of his ancestors' role in the history of Massachusetts and Maine. He had several Mayflower ancestors and was particularly interested in a young Mayflower relative named Billington who nearly set the ship afire while playing with squibs and later discovered the body of water in Plymouth, MA known as Billington Sea.

Funeral services and interment in the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Augusta, Maine will be private. Memorial donations may be made to the Walpole Scholarship Foundation, P.O. Box 58, East Walpole, MA, 02032. Arrangements by James H. Delaney & Son Funeral Home, Walpole.