James Richard "Jim" Oster

James Richard "Jim" Oster, 77, of Naples, Florida passed away on Sunday, April 11, 2021. He was born on October 15, 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of George Oster and Pauline Miller.  

After graduating from Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Pennsylvania Jim enlisted in the US Navy.  He was a 2nd Class Petty Officer on the USS Grand Canyon AD/AR-28 and the USS Rhodes DER-384 from 1960 - 1965.  He was involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis and earned a rating of Shipfitter 2nd Class.  After leaving the Navy, Jim was employed at National Rolling Mills in Malvern, Pennsylvania from 1968 - 1969 as a steel welder.  He was one of only eight individuals to hold a special welding license.  Jim was an extremely hard working and determined man.  He took night classes to study computers which were then in their infancy.  He later applied that education to working at the Industrial Valley Bank in Pennsylvania in the area of IT.  Jim then started at the Warner Lambert Company in 1973.  At Warner Lambert, Jim worked his way through the ranks reaching the level of Chief Information Officer/ Vice-President of International IT at the time of his retirement in 2000.  While at Warner Lambert, he attended night and weekend college to earn a degree in business from The College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown, New Jersey.  Jim also volunteered endless hours at the ARC, New Jersey chapter.  After retiring Jim moved from New Jersey to New Bern, North Carolina then Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina before ending up in Florida.  While in the Carolinas Jim earned his real estate license.    

Jim’s passions were deer hunting, fishing and golfing.  He hunted for forty years in Hazleton, Pennsylvania with his father, brother, son-in-law and close friends.  He enjoyed fishing trips with his brother, Charles Oster, in Alaska and Mexico.  

Jim was a beloved husband, father, grandfather and godfather.  He is survived by his current wife, Selma Oster and daughter, Christina Oster of Naples, Florida; his oldest daughter Kimberly Turse and son-in-law, Matthew Turse and his grandchildren Ryan and Emma Turse of Long Valley, New Jersey; his daughter Dawn Martin and husband Kevin Martin of Roanoke, Virginia and his ex-wife, Sandra Oster of Long Valley, New Jersey; his brother Charles Oster and sister-in-law Barbara Oster and his niece/goddaughter, Wendy Oster of Sarasota, Florida. Jim is predeceased by his son, Kevin Oster in 2006.   

The family asks that in lieu of flowers that donations be made to the Morris County ARC at https://arcmorris.org/donate_now.html or to the Special Olympics at https://www.specialolympics.org/get-involved/donate.