Obituary of James C Anton

James Calvin Anton, of Peabody, beloved husband of Patricia A. Anton and devoted father of Jonathan M. Anton passed away on September 6, 2017 at his home surrounded by his family. Jim was the son of the late Joseph C. and Dorothy (Houchin) Anton of Gary Indiana. Jim spent childhood years in Indiana and Ohio. He later moved to Conn, where he worked for Hamilton Standard in Hartford. He was responsible for in-house management of Sales and preliminary engineering projects among which were air inlet control systems, turbine engine control systems and he was instrumental in a number of space programs for NASA. His most acclaimed achievement was being part of the development of the astronaut’s space suit and back pack. He later moved to Florida with his wife Pat, where he was the Director of Special Projects for the Palm Beach Engineering Department. They later moved to West Peabody in 1978 with their son, Jonathan. Jim retired from General Electric in Lynn as a systems and controls engineer. He had worked on the Black Hawk and the F-18 writing the Engine Control manuals for both, the Apache helicopter, Lockheed C5A transport, the DSSV deep submergence vehicle and many top-secret projects he could never talk about. Jim served in the US Army during the Korean War. He was an avid sportsman and played semi-pro basketball with the US Army. He was a pitcher on a fast-pitch soft ball team, played tennis and also loved to ski. Jim and his parents and sisters formed a band in their earlier life and played and sang for the Salvation Army. He loved to play the classical guitar and was a member of the Indiana State Chorus and also a tenor in the barbershop quartet group. He was a graduate of Perdue University and a member of the National Board of Professional Engineers, the Mass Board of Professional Engineering and a member of St. Adelaide’s Church for 40 years. Jim is survived by his wife Patricia, a son and daughter-in-law, Jonathan and Jennifer, two grandsons, Calvin and Jonathan and several nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews. He was predeceased by his sister, Dorothy May and her husband Max, Kay Fernando and husband Robert, and Betty Lou Suter and her husband Ralph. A visitation will be held on Monday, September 11, 2017 from 4:00 until 8:00 PM at the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur funeral home at the 82 Lynn St., Peabody, facility. His funeral will be held on Tuesday at 9:30 AM from the Funeral home followed by a Funeral Mass in St. Adelaide’s Church, 708 Lowell St., Peabody at 10:30 AM. Burial will be in Puritan Lawn Memorial Park, Peabody. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the American Liver Association, 188 Needham St., Suite 240, Newton, MA 02464 in his memory. For directions and guestbook, visit www.ccbfuneral.com