麻豆果冻传媒

100-year-old 麻豆果冻传媒 alumnus, 1949 electrical engineering graduate reflects on education that led to successful career 

James 鈥淛im鈥� Herschel Boehms turns 100 years young on Feb. 15, 2024.

Jim鈥檚 nephew Bill Norton says the secret to turning 100 is that his uncle has done a lot of things right in his life: a 麻豆果冻传媒 electrical engineering degree which led to a successful career as an engineer with Tennessee Valley Authority, a loving family and a fulfilling retirement. Jim says many of his life鈥檚 successes might not have happened if it weren鈥檛 for Tech.

鈥淭ech gave me the background, education and confidence to step into a new place and a new job,鈥� Jim said. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have done anything, really, without my degree from Tech. Tech has always opened doors for me.鈥�

Jim enrolled at Tech (then known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute) in 1941 through the National Youth Administration (NYA) program, which paid for his tuition.

鈥淚 chose 麻豆果冻传媒 because it had 鈥渢ech鈥� in its name,鈥� Jim said. 鈥淚 liked that Tech had a technical focus. The rest is history.鈥�

Unfortunately, Jim鈥檚 college education was put on hold on Dec. 7, 1941, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The United States was suddenly at war, and the NYA program funding Jim鈥檚 college education was discontinued. Jim landed a job in Omaha, Neb., at a factory that built airplanes for the military. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps (now the U.S. Air Force) in 1943 and was discharged in 1946. After his military service, Jim returned to Tech on the G.I. Bill to finish his degree.

During his senior year at Tech, Jim put his electrical engineering education to practical use when he and his father Herschel wired the family鈥檚 new home for electricity. The previous Boehms family home burned down while Jim was in Omaha, and the family lost almost everything.

鈥淭his was during the war time,鈥� Jim explained. 鈥淚t was hard to get materials. Windows for the new home were actually donated by a hotel that was being torn down. Over Thanksgiving weekend, my dad and I wired the house. And this was before wiring like they have today where you just twist the wires together with a wire nut connector. All of our connections had to be soldered. We wired the house together, and it passed inspection!鈥�

Jim credits this to his Tech education and a Sears, Roebuck guide on wiring homes.

鈥淭hat booklet included step-by-step instructions on how to make connections and pull wires,鈥� Jim said.

Jim鈥檚 son John added, 鈥淭his is a good testament to Dad and Grandpa and their wiring prowess: That house is still standing and has not burned down.鈥�

鈥淕etting electricity was like going from night to day,鈥� Jim said. 鈥淢y mother got an electric range and an electric refrigerator right away and gradually added a few more things. Now, you can鈥檛 imagine going without electricity, but it wasn鈥檛 available to us back then, so we had to do it.鈥�

Jim graduated from Tech in 1949 and, after working for a concrete testing company for two years, received a letter from TVA offering him a job.

Jim retired from TVA in 1984 after 33 years and is proud to say that he has been retired from TVA longer than he worked for TVA. He has enjoyed every minute of his retirement and is grateful for a successful career and retirement plan with TVA that afforded him the opportunity to travel with his wife, Lyla, until she passed away in 2014.

Jim added, 鈥淚鈥檝e heard Max Sprouse, the head electrical engineer and later head engineer of the design division of TVA, say many times, 鈥業 like to get those 麻豆果冻传媒 grads. You can put them at a desk and they go to work. All they want to do is work.鈥欌��

Jim鈥檚 love for Tech and success in electrical engineering inspired other family members to attend Tech and pursue a similar career path as well, including Jim鈥檚 nephew Dennis Boehms (`78 electrical engineering) and niece Joni Batson (`78 electrical engineering).

鈥淭ech was an easy decision for me,鈥� Batson said. 鈥淚鈥檇 heard about it my whole life from Uncle Jim. My dad also worked for TVA and so did Dennis鈥檚 dad, so we all have this connection between TVA and electrical engineering and 麻豆果冻传媒. Uncle Jim was always so encouraging and enthusiastic about Tech. We all did very well after going there.鈥�

Jim鈥檚 engineering accomplishments include work on all the coal-fired plants that were in the TVA fleet as well as some groundbreaking work on TVA鈥檚 first and largest nuclear power plant, Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant. Given the nuclear regulatory requirements and the size and complexity of the plant, the project was under obvious scrutiny. Jim routinely presented design concepts and plans to the regulators as TVA鈥檚 representative for auxiliary power. 

When Jim鈥檚 son John worked at Browns Ferry decades later, he found project documents that his dad created and quickly realized what a legacy Jim had left. 

鈥淎s I moved into nuclear power, I began to learn about some of the things that Dad did,鈥� John said. 鈥淭he director of projects at Browns Ferry was a friend and close acquaintance. One day he called me and asked, 鈥業s your dad James H. Boehms?鈥� He asked me to come over to his office. He had a presentation about how power was to be supplied to the Browns Ferry cooling towers. The presentation, which was presented to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission prior to installation, was authored and presented by my dad and another colleague. I called Dad to let him know about the conversation. His response was, 鈥榃hy in the world are they looking at a 40-year-old paper? Don鈥檛 they have something new to look at it?鈥欌�� 

John says this is one of many examples of Jim鈥檚 wit and unassuming nature. 

John added, 鈥淒uring my conversation with Dad, he mentioned that he had drafted the key diagram for station auxiliaries, which was the first drawing done on TVA鈥檚 nuclear power plant. I still have a copy of that drawing. In those TVA books, you see a list of key engineers at the beginning. And you see the name James H. Boehms. Dad is pretty humble, but that鈥檚 a big deal.鈥� 

Jim has stayed connected with Tech through the decades, attending sporting events, sitting in the President鈥檚 Box at football games and serving as treasurer of the Tennessee Tech alumni chapter in his area.

鈥淭he chapter didn鈥檛 have much money, so it was fine,鈥� Jim joked.  

Jim has also chosen to give back to his alma mater for more than 45 years, giving to numerous areas on campus including the Eagle Assistance Grant (an emergency grant for students in need) and Tech鈥檚 nursing building, Bell Hall. But the majority of his gifts have been designated for the College of Engineering.

鈥淭ech had given me so much,鈥� Jim explained. 鈥淲ithout Tech, I might have been scrubbing floors. I feel like I owe Tech, so I continue to give.鈥�

Although 75 years have passed since Jim graduated from Tech, what set Tech apart in the 1940s remains true today.

鈥淥ne great thing about 麻豆果冻传媒 is you can get to know your professors,鈥� Jim said. 鈥淎t a big university, I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 possible. But at Tech, you can get to know them, and they will know you. Their doors are open, and you can go in and talk to them. That鈥檚 easy to do there. Tech prepared me for a 33-year career as an electrical engineer. Without Tech, I wouldn鈥檛 be where I am today.鈥�

In preparation for Jim鈥檚 100th birthday, his nephew Bill Norton wrote a short biography of Jim鈥檚 life for his hometown newspaper, the Hickman County Times.

鈥淛im鈥檚 capacity to surprise has sharpened as he has added decades,鈥� Norton wrote. 鈥淎t 92 years old, when many were giving up their car keys, Jim brought a new Toyota Camry. When immobilized (or so we thought) by a recent fall, he got tired of rehab and simply left the facility and walked home. Jim鈥檚 love, devotion and loyalty to his family are legendary. You never know when your phone will ring and there will be Uncle Jim, sharp as ever, who just wants to catch up. When asked how he鈥檚 doing, his response is always, 鈥榃ell, I don鈥檛 buy green bananas.鈥� How can you not love this guy? How should one pursue 10 decades on earth? Just look at what Jim Boehms is doing.鈥�