James Foss

Foss, James of Hingham, died March 23, 2020.

Jim was the son of Greek immigrants who fled from Smyrna, Turkey when the city was burned to the ground as part of the Armenian Genocide. The family (James and Helen Photinakis) fled to Greece and came to America where they found safety and liberty.

Jim was born in Jersey City, NJ in 1934 and attended Macalaster College, transferred to Boston University and later graduated from BU Law School.

He went into industry, working for ACF Industries in New York City, St Louis and Pennsylvania.  He later moved back to Boston to work for Nortronics in Norwood.    Jim was also Director of Industrial Relations at the Quincy Shipyard (General Dynamics) and the Massachusetts Dept of Mental Health. 

He was recruited to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service by Bill Usury, then Director of Federal Mediators and U.S. Secretary of Labor.  He mediated labor disputes in the newspaper industry, defense industry, electronics and healthcare, including hospitals and ship building.  He was also an adjunct professor at Northeastern University for 25 years where he taught labor Management Relations. 

Jim was sent to El Salvador to train mediators and often spoke of the wonderful people there and read with great sorrow what has happened to the country.  He also hosted foreign visitors to America who came to be trained in dispute management.  Jim retired from the FMCS in 2007 after 31 years of service.  Jim will be remembered as a great patriot with his honesty, love of country and the blessing of freedom and liberty.

He enjoyed holiday dinners with three generations of the family and re-telling stories of all kinds.  Jim is survived by his beloved wife of 63 years and two children, Alexandra Cavanaugh and her husband Sean, James and his wife Kim and three grandchildren, Jacob and his wife Sara, Casey and Joseph.

In light of the ongoing health epidemic, services will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Jim may be made to Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675.