Timeline for James A. LaFortune
Born: April 3, 1933
October 1, 1980
Jim and Ann’s 25th Anniversary
Died: December 16, 2021
James A. LaFortune, 88, of Belchertown, formerly of Ludlow, passed away on December 16, 2021. He was born on April 3, 1933 to Arsene and Catherine (Clough) LaFortune. He was raised and educated in West Springfield schools, graduating in 1951. He proudly served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and went on to work for 30 years at Monsanto. He married Anne Smith on October 1, 1955 in Worcester, MA. Jim was an avid golfer, handyman and woodworker, having made many heirlooms for his family to treasure. He enjoyed daily crossword puzzles and cryptogram and was an excellent cook, known especially for his chili. He was a longtime communicant of Christ the King Church.
Jim leaves his wife of 66 years Anne M. LaFortune and his 6 children David LaFortune (Sue) of Ocean Park, ME, Paula Dobbins (Mike) of Bossier City, LA; Judy Thornton (David) of Belchertown, MA; Tom LaFortune (Barbara) of Shreveport, LA; Amy LaFortune of Corpus Christi, TX and Daniel LaFortune (Lori) of Guthrie, OK; his 2 sisters Nancy Gehring of West Springfield, MA and Marlene Denice (Tony) of Hagerstown, MD. “Papa” also leaves his 12 grandchildren Jenna Evans (Jon), Katie Endicott (Joey), Jeremy Dobbins (Kendra), Rebecca Breedlove (Stephen), James Dobbins (Jennifer), Emily Dannen (Michael), Jacob LaFortune, Kody Westbrook, Eli Westbrook, Noah Westbrook, Joshua LaFortune and Kaden LaFortune; and 6 great-grandchildren Ellie, Luke, Kelsey, Connor, Avery and Bradleigh.
Burial will be private at the convenience of the family in the Massachusetts Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery, Main St., Agawam, MA. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph, 577 Carew St., Springfield, MA 01104 or the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 220 N. Main St, #104, Natick, MA 01760 or www.cff.org
Dave and family: we are sorry about the loss of your Dad. You were blessed to have him for all those years. We will pray for his soul and for you.
Dear Dan, so sorry to hear of your Dad’s passing. I still have the gavel he made for me many years ago. May he Rest In Peace.
I met Jim at my first job (Monsanto) after graduating from WPI (1978). It did not take long to observe that Jim was wearing that facility. Whenever the plant was having issues, I always saw him strolling from his office over to the Plant Manager’s suite. We shared the 7 AM morning shift turnover meetings in the proverbial smoke filled cinder block building. Jim would light a cigarette, sit down, smooth out his note pad, take a pen in his trembling fingers and write down the production crises he would manage that day. He was a great mentor, and it was no surprise that after he retired, he went back to work as a consultant (with a nice raise in pay). Living by myself in Ludlow, imagine my surprise when Jim and some of his kids showed up on Easter Sunday with a basket for me. Later I went to the LaFortune’s for dinner one night and watched how fast the food disappeared amongst his six offspring. Anne wisely counseled me to dig in quickly. I considered the LaFortune’s my surrogate family. During my Monsanto days, I would run a loop outside the plant during lunch hour. One spring morning in 1979, while driving to work, I saw Jim peddling a bicycle on the side of the road. He later told me he had quit smoking, would bicycle to work until he felt ready to begin jogging. Soon he was eating fruit for lunch. Then he set his next goal: to run the May 1981 Five College Marathon (26.2 miles). His neighbor, Dr. Oscar Nepomuceno, joined us on weekend long runs to build our endurance. We started in March 1980, running outside in all kinds of weather. In August 1980, the Lafortune’s and Nepomuceno’s traveled to Maine (my home state) to run around Highland Lake, an 11.2 mile hot hilly adventure ending with splash in the lake, picnic, and water ski show. Jim and Oscar both finished this benchmark, averaging nine minute miles. After fourteen months of training, we ran the marathon. Jim made it half way (13.1 miles) in under two hours but needed to stop. Oscar and I finished. I was sorry Jim didn’t complete the second half as he was the event instigator. I will never forget the weekend marathon outings, post run antics (e.g., consumption of a whole watermelon by Oscar’s pool) and seeing Jim’s health improve—all gold. He made 88! Bravo! This spring, Amy called and said they had sold the Ludlow home and relocated to Judy’s house in Belchertown. Jim wanted to touch base. Early June I drove down from Maine for an afternoon of memories with both Jim and Anne. As I arrived, Jim was waiting outside for me. When I returned home after the visit, Jim called to see if I made it home safely. That was the last time we spoke. I can envision Jim amongst the clouds now, with a twinkle in his eye, and his laugh, and hope he continues to keep an eye on his flock he left behind, as we keep him in our hearts. We could all use some help getting there when it’s our turn! With condolences to the LaFortune clan and friends, Sandra Wyman
Burial will be private at the convenience of the family in the Massachusetts Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery, Main St., Agawam, MA.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph, 577 Carew St., Springfield, MA 01104 or the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 220 N. Main St, #104, Natick, MA 01760 or www.cff.org
Our sincere condolences.
The staff of Kapinos-Mazur Funeral Home.
Dave and family: we are sorry about the loss of your Dad. You were blessed to have him for all those years. We will pray for his soul and for you.
Dear Dan, so sorry to hear of your Dad’s passing. I still have the gavel he made for me many years ago. May he Rest In Peace.
I met Jim at my first job (Monsanto) after graduating from WPI (1978). It did not take long to observe that Jim was wearing that facility. Whenever the plant was having issues, I always saw him strolling from his office over to the Plant Manager’s suite. We shared the 7 AM morning shift turnover meetings in the proverbial smoke filled cinder block building. Jim would light a cigarette, sit down, smooth out his note pad, take a pen in his trembling fingers and write down the production crises he would manage that day. He was a great mentor, and it was no surprise that after he retired, he went back to work as a consultant (with a nice raise in pay). Living by myself in Ludlow, imagine my surprise when Jim and some of his kids showed up on Easter Sunday with a basket for me. Later I went to the LaFortune’s for dinner one night and watched how fast the food disappeared amongst his six offspring. Anne wisely counseled me to dig in quickly. I considered the LaFortune’s my surrogate family. During my Monsanto days, I would run a loop outside the plant during lunch hour. One spring morning in 1979, while driving to work, I saw Jim peddling a bicycle on the side of the road. He later told me he had quit smoking, would bicycle to work until he felt ready to begin jogging. Soon he was eating fruit for lunch. Then he set his next goal: to run the May 1981 Five College Marathon (26.2 miles). His neighbor, Dr. Oscar Nepomuceno, joined us on weekend long runs to build our endurance. We started in March 1980, running outside in all kinds of weather. In August 1980, the Lafortune’s and Nepomuceno’s traveled to Maine (my home state) to run around Highland Lake, an 11.2 mile hot hilly adventure ending with splash in the lake, picnic, and water ski show. Jim and Oscar both finished this benchmark, averaging nine minute miles. After fourteen months of training, we ran the marathon. Jim made it half way (13.1 miles) in under two hours but needed to stop. Oscar and I finished. I was sorry Jim didn’t complete the second half as he was the event instigator. I will never forget the weekend marathon outings, post run antics (e.g., consumption of a whole watermelon by Oscar’s pool) and seeing Jim’s health improve—all gold. He made 88! Bravo! This spring, Amy called and said they had sold the Ludlow home and relocated to Judy’s house in Belchertown. Jim wanted to touch base. Early June I drove down from Maine for an afternoon of memories with both Jim and Anne. As I arrived, Jim was waiting outside for me. When I returned home after the visit, Jim called to see if I made it home safely. That was the last time we spoke. I can envision Jim amongst the clouds now, with a twinkle in his eye, and his laugh, and hope he continues to keep an eye on his flock he left behind, as we keep him in our hearts. We could all use some help getting there when it’s our turn! With condolences to the LaFortune clan and friends, Sandra Wyman
Kapinos-Mazur Funeral Home
Our sincere condolences.
The staff of Kapinos-Mazur Funeral Home.