YARMOUTH — James “Roy” Small, 94, died May 6 at the Maine Veterans’ Home in Scarborough after a decade of declining health.
He was born in Waltham, Mass., on Feb. 12, 1915, a son of Thomas and Jeanette (McLea) Small.
As a young boy, he worked on his father’s dairy farm, helping deliver milk in a horse-drawn wagon.
After attending local schools, he was accepted into Harvard on a scholarship and graduated in 1938.
In 1941, he married Ester Modin before joining the U.S. Navy. They celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary shortly before her death in 2005.
After serving in World War II as a radio technician, he attended Boston College Law School at night on the GI bill, working during the day for BF Goodrich Footwear. Despite passing the Bar in 1948, he decided to stay with BF Goodrich as the technical director of the shoe division until he retired at age 60.
He and his wife relocated to Palermo after he retired and they enjoyed traveling extensively for many years. After getting injured while repairing his roof at age 84, they moved in with their daughter and her family in Yarmouth. He eventually moved to the Maine Veterans’ Home due to his declining health.
A hard-working man, he had a strong sense of doing the right thing and loved facts, figures, maps and tinkering. His family always came first, and he was a hands-on father with a professional, working wife long before that was the norm.
He was predeceased by his wife Ester of 64 years in 2005.
Surviving are his daughter, Chris Simons of Yarmouth and her husband Jack Schraeter, his son, Dr. Paul James Small of California and his wife Patricia Hurtado Perdomo; his granddaughters, Emily Modin Simons and Elsie James Simons of Yarmouth, his grandson, Finian Scott-Small of Sacramento, Calif.; two sisters, Ruth (Small) Cooke of Florida and Jean (Small) Waugh of New Braintree, Mass.; and his sister-in-law, Connie Small, of New Braintree, Mass.; many nieces and nephews; and extended family.
Memorial services will be private.
Arrangements are by Lindquist Funeral Home, 1 Mayberry Lane, Yarmouth.
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