James L. Wangemann

Wangemann, James L., passed away peacefully on August 28, 2007, in Topeka, Kan. He was born on April 3, 1920, in New York City to Otto and Sarah Wangemann. The family lived in the city for four years before moving across the Hudson River and settling in Fort Lee, N.J. In the spring of 1938, Jim graduated from Fort Lee High. Shortly after graduation, he took a job as a bellhop at The Players, a social club in New York City founded by actor Edwin Booth. While working there, he met many notable actors and athletes, including New York Yankees star Joe DiMaggio. Jim attended the Engineering Colleges of Greater New York, where he graduated in the summer of 1941. He then worked briefly at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Company in Baltimore. Jim enlisted in the service in the summer of 1942. During World War II, he trained B-17 flight crews. He was assigned to the Army Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota, where he was a member of the 225th Combat Training Squadron. He was honorably discharged from Fort MacArthur, California, in February of 1946. After the war, he came back to New York City to study at the Casey School of Aeronautics. After graduation, Jim moved to Wichita, Kansas, to work for The Boeing Company. Jim married Marcellene Thurman on October 22, 1962, at the First Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas. He continued to work for Boeing, which sent him across the United States and to England and Australia for various projects. He retired from Boeing in 1990 after 35 years there. After retirement, he kept in touch with many other Boeing retirees, along with friends he made during brief stints of employment at Beech and Cessna. Jim was a kind, thoughtful and generous man. He loved playing with his grandchildren, going to Wichita State basketball games, eating Italian food at Angelos and attending performances by Music Theater of Wichita. While he never lost his New York accent, he came to love the wide-open spaces of Kansas. He enjoyed taking long drives across the state and stopping in small towns for lunch with friends or family. He always had a smile, a joke or a friendly word for his family, friends, co-workers or acquaintances, and although his health declined greatly in recent years, he accepted the changes in his life with grace and good humor. His family loved him dearly and feels blessed to have spent so many precious years with him. Jim was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Virginia. He is survived by his wife, Marcellene, of Wichita; his daughter, Carol Gail Staadt, her husband, Stan, and their children, Amy and Michael, of Mount Pleasant, Texas; his son, James Wangemann, his wife, Michele, and their sons, Tommy and Sam, of Austin, Texas; and his daughter, Melissa Wangemann Maag, her husband, Jared, and their children, Emma and James, of Topeka. Service 10:00 A.M., Saturday, September 1, Downing Lahey Mortuary East. Interment will be in New Mount Hope Cemetery, Galesburg, KS. A memorial has been established with the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 1653, Topeka, KS, 66601. Interment 2:00 P.M., Saturday, September 1, Mount Hope Cemetery, Galesburg, KS.