James Putkey ’54 earned his college tuition through a year and a half as a merchant seaman on a Standard Oil tanker ship. Jim had a successful professional career as a civil engineer with Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation. He later started a business as a private construction consultant, which he ran for 30 years. His proudest accomplishment, though, was his family. He would take his daughters out to fly kites and hike in the hills, cook breakfast, and sing lullabies at night. Jim was a “people person” and everyone in town could always recognize him by his fashionable walking stick and straw hat. Jim died on February 14, 2023.