Saturday, December 8, 2007
Daily Hampshire Gazette

BREWSTER - James Bradford Pond, 91, of Brewster, died early Sunday morning, Dec. 2, at the Epoch Nursing Home in Harwich. Jim was born in Easthampton to Dr. L. Beverly and R. Hilma (Cook) Pond on Jan. 17, 1916. He attended Williston Academy, graduating in 1934. His undergraduate years were spent at Yale University, where he graduated in 1938. Jim, an All-American soccer player, was a member of the Yale team that went undefeated (12-0-0) in 1935.

Upon graduation, Jim was off to Robert College in Istanbul, Turkey, where he was an instructor at the School of Engineering from 1938 to 1941. Here, Jim met Jocelyn B. Tubini, marrying her in April of 1941 in a double wedding with her sister. Their "honeymoon" trip across the Soviet Union and China as World War II was breaking out took 26 days by train. They just caught the last ship out of Japan, unlike Jocelyn's sister and husband, who spent three years in a Japanese POW camp.

Upon return to the United States, Jim continued his career as an engineer, ultimately becoming involved in the textile industry. In 1963, he returned to Europe, where he was tasked with setting up a new textile factory in Belgium. While on vacation in 1964, Jim, Jocelyn, and four of their five children piled into a Volkswagen squareback and drove 900 miles, including a frightful descent from the peaks of the Austrian Alps, to Istanbul, where Jocelyn was raised. While Jim's experiences leaving Turkey in 1941 were memorable, his children still talk to this day about their many adventures on his return trip.

In 1977, Jim and his family moved to Brewster, eventually taking up residence at 21 Crosby Lane, where Jim lived until becoming ill in October. Cape Cod was the one constant in Jim's life. Every year since 1921, Jim summered at his family's cottage in Brewster Park overlooking the bay. A bit of a curmudgeon, Jim could often be heard concluding his sentences with a colorful "on this Godforsaken peninsula" usually followed by his signature contagious chuckle.

Jim is survived by his children, Peter B. Pond and his wife, Lorayne, of Antibes, France, Nancy J. Harwood and her husband, David, of Brewster, Anthony J. Pond and his wife, Sharon, of Stoughton, Jocelyn (Jaylin) Dibble and her husband, Daniel, of Warwick, and Tamsin J. Wallace and her husband, Christopher, of Brewster.

Jim particularly enjoyed spending time conversing with his grandchildren as they grew into adulthood. He leaves 10 grandchildren, CoriAnne (Pond) Nix, Andrew (Pond) Silveria, Kristen Harwood, Nathan Dibble, R. Bradford Pond, Sarah Harwood, Lucius Dibble, Tamsin (Harwood) Hemingway, Paul Wallace and Jocelyn (Jayci) Wallace, and two great-grandchildren, Tyler and James Silveria.

He was predeceased by his sister, Jeannette Pond, and his brother, Dr. Sidney M. Pond.

A memorial service will be held on what would have been Jim's 92nd birthday on Jan. 17 at the First Parish Unitarian Church in Brewster at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Brewster Conservation Trust, P.O. Box 268, Brewster, MA 02631.