Lovell, Derailment Victim, 'Greatly Loved and Missed By All'

James Gere Lovell, known to friends and family as Jim or Jimmy, died tragically Dec. 1, at age 58, in the Metro North train accident in New York City. He is greatly mourned by his wife Nancy, daughter Brooke, and sons Finn, Jack and Hudson.

Jim was born at Butterfield Hospital in Cold Spring May 9, 1955, to James and Laura Lovell. He resided on Avery Road in Garrison for the first 14 years of his life. He was the youngest of four brothers, including Christopher, Peter and John.

He attended Garrison Union Free School through the eighth grade, then in succession the Millbrook School, Highland Falls High School, graduating from Haldane High School in Cold Spring in 1973.

His high school years included a state medal for his high jumping ability in track and field competitions. His interest in music led him to study classical guitar in Manhattan and then he expanded this interest to building guitars. He spent one summer on the painting crew restoring the underbelly of the Bear Mountain Bridge.

Jimmy elected to skip the collegiate route, trading it instead for his own lifelong regimen of reading and study pursuing his interest in history and music.

He began his career with Staging Technics of New York City as an audio technician, learning both the business and technical aspects before leaving to start his own firm, Bull Hill Music, Inc. The following years led him to travel widely for business, directing and staging the audio production for trade shows and musical events around the world, eventually leading to his work with NBC.

In the 1990s Jim began a long association with Batwin & Robin, a New York media production company where he worked to develop the exhibits for the new National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, and the Smithsonian Institution, projects in which he took great interest and even greater pride. He authored several screenplays based upon historic events along the Hudson River.

Jim was deeply engaged with his community, with his friends, and family, and took special pleasure sharing the many summer activities with his family neighbors on the banks of Lake Valhalla.

In 1977 Jim married his first wife, Patrica Minardi of Garrison, settling in Cold Spring. In 1979, with the birth of daughter Brooke, they moved to Point Street in New Hamburg, New York where he started Bull Hill Music productions.

In 1994 Jim moved to Hood River, Oregon with his second wife, Nancy Montgomery, and their two sons Finn and Jack where they lived next door to his brother John. The following year they all returned to Cold Spring, eventually settling next to Lake Valhalla in Philipstown. Hudson, Jim’s fourth and last child, joined them in their Highland Road home in 2001.

Jim was known for his positive approach to life, his loving family relations, his pride in his wife and children, his support of his friends and co-workers, and his mastery of every skill he attempted.

He is survived by his wife Nancy, Philipstown town councilwoman; his daughter Brooke, a designer and business owner; son Finn, 17, a senior at Haldane High School; son Jack, 15, a sophomore; son Hudson, 12, in sixth grade at Haldane Middle School; his brothers Dr. Christopher, Peter, and John Lovell, and numerous brothers and sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews. He is greatly loved and missed by all.