HUDSON FALLS – On Thursday, February 9, 2017, James D. Hewitt (better known as Drake to his friends and family) slipped the surly bonds of earth to meet his Lord. He was surrounded by his loving family and died peacefully and without pain at Glens Falls Hospital. He was 83 years old.
Drake was born the youngest of nine children in Whitehall, on June 18, 1933. He graduated in 1950 from Whitehall Central School, entered the Air Force in 1952 and served as a radio operator in Japan. He finished his tour in Mississippi, where he was honorably discharged in April of 1956.
When Drake was discharged from the service, he started college in Castleton, Vt., before transferring to UVM in Burlington, VT, and going on to Geneseo State University of New York. He went on to acquire his master’s degree in elementary education at SUNY Albany.
After finishing his education, he began his teaching career at Great Meadow Correctional Facility. Drake went on to teach in Batavia for three years before returning home to teach in the Hudson Falls Central School District, primarily at Margaret Murphy Elementary, for 28 years.
He was one of those lucky people who got up every day to go to a job that he loved. Drake took early retirement at 55 because of medical issues and a few years later, became a medi-ride driver for Glens Falls Hospital, a job that he enjoyed for 15 years.
Drake will always be loved and remembered by his entire family, the people he loved and thousands of past students. One of his biggest enjoyments was talking to people at the Hannaford grocery store in Hudson Falls and sharing recipes with them. Grocery shopping was a social outing for him, and he would be gone for several hours, even if there were only a few items on the grocery list.
Drake’s parents, five brothers, an infant and also Donald, John, Robert and Thomas; two sisters, Marena McLaughlin and Hope Fleury; and a niece, Heidi Biddlescomb, all predeceased him.
He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years, Sandy; his son, Drake; his daughter, Karen Sharpe and her companion, Todd Mead; his daughter, Kristy Hewitt, who resides in the State of Washington; his sister, Daune Martell, who is a patient at Fort Hudson Nursing Home; and a very special nephew, Sean (Ruth) McLaughlin. Drake has seven grandchildren, Brooke (Anson) Wood, Andrea Hewitt, Joseph, Zachary and Jordyn Sharpe, and TJ and Alex Rutter; and too many nieces and nephews to name.
Friends may call on Tuesday, February 14, 2017 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Carleton Funeral Home, Inc., 68 Main Street in Hudson Falls.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at St. Mary’s/St. Paul’s Catholic Church on the park in Hudson Falls.
The family suggests that memorial donations be made to the charity of one’s choice.
