Obituary of James Henry Rivers

 James (Jim) Henry Rivers, 83, passed away on Friday, April 19, 2024. He was born in Chester, SC on December 12, 1940, to Henry Earl and Martha Long Rivers.  He spent 4 years in the U.S. Navy and worked for IBM for 32 years.  His first eight years with IBM were at the Kennedy Space Center, working on all the Apollo launches.  He was an Engineer/Manager/Scientist at his retirement.  He taught classes in Quality Control in several countries in the Far East.  He developed a new process in the field of Electro Magnetics and wrote and presented a technical paper at an international symposium in Zurich, Switzerland.

 He went to Calvary Chapel of Viera.  He was a member of the Civitan Club.  Upon retiring, he spent a lot of time singing at various Senior Centers, Nursing Homes, and Assisted Living facilities, and he sang at the Old Chapel at the NC State Fair for 12 years.  He sang in church choirs and sang solos at church as well.  He was an avid fisherman.

He is preceded in death by his parents, his daughter Alicia Rivers Riggs, and three brothers, Bill, Joe, and George. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Shirley Ledford Rivers, his son, Paul Rivers, nine grandchildren Joshua, Jonathon (Zeena), Stephen, Alex, Jackson, Anna, Robert, Amelia, and Willow; and one great-grandchild, Jeremiah, as well as his sister Elizabeth Zettler, and brothers Charlie and Claude (Thelma), and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

The service will be officiated by Rev. Kevin Winn and held at Beckman-Williamson Funeral Home at 5400 Village Dr., Rockledge, FL 32955.  Visitation is at 10:00 and the service will be at 11:00 on Saturday, April 27th.