Obituary of H. James Abdella

Longtime Jamestown attorney H. James Abdella, 75, of 186 Aldren Avenue, Jamestown, died at 5:50 PM, Thursday, June 17, 2010, following a 7 year battle with lung cancer. Born June 21, 1934 in Gloversville, New York, a son of the late Martin and Catherine Skaff Abdella, he was the husband of Susan VanVolkenburgh Abdella, whom he married August 26, 1956 at the First Methodist Church in Delmar, New York. He was a 1952 graduate of Gloversville High School and a 1956 graduate of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he was president of the student body. He received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1959, after which he moved to Jamestown and practiced law for 22 years as a partner of Johnson, Peterson, Tener & Anderson. He was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court in 1964. In 1986, he established the law firm of Abdella & Abdella in partnership with his older son, Stephen. He served for 18 years as Chancellor (legal adviser to the Bishop) of the Western New York Conference of the United Methodist Church. He was Acting Jamestown City Court Judge from 1994 to 2004, and was later a New York State Judicial Hearing Officer. He was President of the Jamestown Bar Association in 1978-79. He was the author of the column, "Just Here 'N There" in the Jamestown Post-Journal for almost a decade and was published previously in the Mayville Sentinel for 16 years from 1974-1990, and in the Southern Tier Pennysaver from 1990 through 2000. His only foray into politics was as an unsuccessful candidate in 1980 for the U.S. Congress. Throughout his life in Jamestown, Mr. Abdella was active in community affairs. He was a member from 1970-74 and later Chairman of the Jamestown Youth Bureau from 1974-1980; President of the Jamestown Estate Planning Council in 1969-70; President of the Jamestown Optimist Club in 1970-71; President of the Jamestown Rotary Club in 1993-94; manager in Little League and Babe Ruth League for 12 years; member of the Board of Directors of the Jamestown Babe Ruth World Series Committee for 12 years and President for the years 1991-93; member of the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, serving on several of its committees; and a member of the Mt. Moriah Masonic Lodge #145 F & AM. Active in his church, he held various positions, including Youth and Adult Sunday School Teacher, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Christ First United Methodist Church. Recipient of the Lifetime Membership Award in the Jamestown P.T.A. for service to youth, Mr. Abdella was a co-recipient of the Community Service Award from the Jamestown Bar Association (JBA) in 2005 and was the first nominee by the JBA in 2008 for a statewide award as Bar Professional of the Year. Jim was an avid Buffalo Bills, Michigan Wolverines and Detroit Tigers fan, owning Bills season tickets for many years in both War Memorial and Ralph Wilson stadiums. He was a voracious reader, and enjoyed history, the theater, travel, writing, handball at the YMCA, and eating ice cream of all varieties at any occasion. Jim loved Chautauqua Lake where he spent many hours with his family and friends. In addition to his wife of 53 years, Susan, surviving are his three children, Cynthia J. Abdella Hall (Christopher) of Olney, MD, Stephen M. Abdella (Ann), of Jamestown, and Peter H. Abdella of Rochester, NY; two grandchildren, Nicholas Hall of Olney, MD, and Josephine Abdella of Rochester, NY; numerous nieces and nephews, and his church family. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by his siblings, Josephine Abdella, Victor Abdella, and Victoria Abdella. The funeral will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, June 21st, at Christ First United Methodist Church, located at the corner of Buffalo Street and Lakeview Avenue. The Rev. Douglas M. Knopp will officiate. Burial will be in Lake View Cemetery. Family and friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 20th in the Lind Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Christ First United Methodist Church, 663 Lakeview Ave., Jamestown, NY 14701; the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, 418 Spring St., Jamestown, NY 14701; or the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, P.O. Box 7247-0260, Philadelphia, PA 19170-0260.