James Elden Brainerd

Biography: James E Brainerd

James Elden Brainerd (Jim) was born November 12, 1925, in New Philadelphia, Ohio. He was raised in Canton, Ohio and attended Timken Vocational High School then enlisted in the Navy immediately after graduation at the age of seventeen. Over the course of his service, he was in active duty in the V-12 program, completed an Officer Readiness Class in Oberlin, Ohio, was accepted as an Aviation Cadet at US Naval Air Station in Ottumwa, Iowa and attended flight school at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

Jim was a WW2 Naval Aviation Ordinance man and attended Naval Gunnery School in Jacksonville, Florida. From there he was transferred to Air Bombers School, Naval Air Station, Banana River, Florida. Jim was promoted to Seaman 2nd class in May, 1945. He was transferred to NSA, Camp Kerney with the San Diego Fleet Air Photographic Squadron 5, where he was fortunate to serve with his brother Bob. He shipped out to Guam in August, 1945, eventually to Iwo Jima, USDA Tokyo in Kisarazu, Japan spending most of his active service in Japan as part of the occupying forces. This had a huge impact on his future and how he saw the world.

Jim was honorably discharged at Great Lakes Naval Training Center, Illinois on April 21,1946 and returned to Canton.

He enrolled at Kent State University where he earned both his Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Psychology degrees. While at Kent State he met and fell in love with Sarah Yingst. They married shortly after graduation on June 16, 1949, and were happily married for seventy years, and had six children: Claudia, Kay, Cynthia, James, Patricia, and Sarah.

After a few years as a professor at Bethany College, Jim was hired by Ford Motor Company where he spent the majority of his career. This took him to Detroit, Michigan where his family was raised and ultimately, he was appointed Industrial Relations Manager of the new Michigan Casting Center, one of the largest and most technologically advanced casting facilities in the world. The family then relocated to nearby Grosse Ile, where they lived for thirteen years. In 1984 he and Sarah retired to Sun City Center, Florida where they spent many happy years. Jim died on February 1, 2019, at the age of 94.