James "Jim" E. Needham

James “Jim” E. Needham, 97, of Southington and formerly of Cheshire, passed away peacefully with his son by his side on Monday, July 10, 2023 at LiveWell in Plantsville. He had been the loving husband of the late Carmela “Millie” (Sarchiapone) Needham for 40 years.

James was born in Providence, RI on November 10, 1925 to the late John A. and Margaret (Langhorn) Needham.

He proudly served his country in the U.S. Army Air Force, in the 2^nd Air Division, 8^th Air Force 458^th Bombardment Group, 754^th Squadron on the B-24 Liberator “Briney Marlin” based out of Horsham, Saint Faith in Norwich, England from 1944 - 1945.  He flew 31 missions over Nazi Germany.  Upon his return home from the service, Jim took a job as a reporter and worked as a journalist for many years, eventually retiring from the Waterbury Republican. Jim was a hardened Democrat and loved to read, especially about history, government and politics. He enjoyed sailing and flying with his son and playing setback with Laurie and Rich. He will be deeply missed.

Jim is survived by his son, John A. Needham and his wife Angela (Rinaldi) of Southington, a loving extended family and his dear friends, Laurie and Rich Cahill of Cheshire.  

His family would like to thank the staff at Livewell for the wonderful care that was given to their father.

Donations in Jim’s memory may be made to LiveWell, 1261 S. Main St, Plantsville, CT 06479 (https://livewell.org/).

A graveside service with military honors will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at St. Ann Cemetery, 73 Church St, Cranston, RI. Plantsville Funeral Home has been entrusted with handling the arrangements.  For online condolences and directions, please visit www.plantsvillefuneralhome.com.