James E. Mitchell

James E. Mitchell, artist and long-time resident of Newport, died Thursday, October 23, 2003, of cancer at Brigham and Women?s Hospital in Boston. He was 77. Mr. Mitchell was born in New York City, and spent his youth sailing the coastal regions of Long Island and South Carolina. He served for five years in the Merchant Marine during and after World War II. Afterwards, Mr. Mitchell studied illustration at Pratt Institute in New York, and abroad, studied painting and design under the French master Edouard Goerg at L?Academie de la Grande-Chaumiere in Paris. Returning to the United States, Mr. Mitchell embarked on a painting and illustration career that included commissions for private and corporate collections, as well as international sailing magazines, naval and maritime museums, including the Mariners? Museum in Newport News, Va. and the Peabody Museum of Salem, Mass. In 1980, he illustrated an edition of Joshua Slocum?s ?Sailing Alone Around the World.? Mr. Mitchell was a founding member and served for a period as President of the American Society of Marine Artists. He was an avid offshore racing and cruising sailor and a skilled fly fisherman. Mr. Mitchell was predeceased by his first wife, Katherine S. Mitchell, who died in 1989. He is survived by his second wife, Kirtley Sherman Mitchell; his brother Francis; four daughters, Shane, Katherine, Melissa and Hilary; his son James; stepdaughter Kirtley; stepson Edward; two grandchildren, Jameson and Katherine. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, October 28 at Trinity Church, 1 Queen Anne Square, Newport, R.I. Internment will be private. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the Potter League for Animals or the Seamen?s Church Institute in Newport.