James A. Wise

James A. Wise III was born in Atlanta, GA in 1932. He attended high school in Fort Payne, AL where he was president of the band and a member of the National Beta Club. After graduation he attended GA Tech where he was Executive Officer of the band and a member of Kappa Kappa Psi Honorary Fraternity. He was also a member of Kappa Sigma Social Fraternity. James served on active duty with the Army as a Special Weapons Electronics Officer and Electronics Engineer. Upon release from the Army he joined the R & D activities at White Sands Missile Range and advanced through several positions including Director and Instrumentation Directorate. In 1982 James was promoted to the Senior Executive Service and served as Technical Director of the National Range Operations Directorate. Upon his retirement in 1985 he was awarded the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service by the Secretary of the Army. He served on several committees at UTEP and at NMSU. He was active in early music performance and he was the music director of the Early Music Consort of El Paso. James is survived by his loving wife, the former Jeanette Hirashima; his brothers, Lyle K. Wise of North Carolina and William A. Wise of Alabama. James A. Wise past away from leukemia following a long battle of cancer. A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 pm, Saturday, September 20, 2008 at Sunset Funeral Home-Northeast. Interment will be private. Services entrusted to Sunset Funeral Homes-Northeast. Please visit on-line register book at www.sunsetfuneralhomes.net.