AUGUSTA – James Rexford Nevins, 86, of Manchester, passed away peacefully at MaineGeneral on June 11, 2021 after a short period of declining health.

He was born in Augusta on Jan. 16, 1935, to the late Guy Nevins and Pauline (Nadeau) Nevins. He graduated from Cony High School where he was an excellent student and athlete, lettering in baseball, basketball and football.

He was predeceased by his wife of 64 years, Jean Kaler Nevins; his brothers John Winfield (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Robert W. (Manchester, Maine) and sister Nancy Nevins (Augusta, Maine); his uncle Winfield Scott (Augusta, Maine and Cape May, N.J.) a decorated veteran who served in both World War I and II.

His parents met and were married in Aroostook County and moved to Augusta where his father worked as the head chef at the local hotel, the Augusta House. His work ethic began developing at a young age, and he often reminisced about the long hours his father worked at the hotel’s restaurant, putting in 80-90 hours each week. This made a huge impression on him as he observed how diligently his father went about his work and the pride he took serving the customers. As he went through life, this foundation helped him understand the value of hard work, appreciate the importance of doing the job right the first time and how he valued quality over quantity.

Jim was very active in local government in the Town of Manchester, serving on the school board, the planning board, the board of selectman, the recreation committee, the road committee, the Cobbossee dam keeper committee and the Manchester Sanitary District. There were very few boards or committees he did not serve on. He worked for the Maine Department of Transportation for most of his career as an engineering technician in the Asphalt Division. After an early retirement, he decided to return to work for a few years as a consultant to the Department. His job had him traveling to all corners of the state of Maine. As a result, he had a virtual photographic memory of Maine’s road system. If someone started describing a road in Washington County between Machias and Wesley, he would respond, “Oh, yeah, that’s Route 192. Beautiful road.”

Jim was blessed with varied interests that contributed to a full and busy life. He served as a football coach at Kents Hill School and then went on to be a high school football official for many years, always looking forward to Saturday’s in the fall on the gridiron. He and Jean enjoyed gardening, she in her flower garden and him in the vegetable garden. He loved caring for his large lawn and was jokingly called the “lawn ranger” by many of his family. He coached PeeWee basketball at the Kennebec Valley YMCA and baseball in the Augusta South Little League. His teams routinely enjoyed success, especially his Little League team – Wadleigh’s – winning the City Championship three straight years, going unbeaten in two of those three seasons. More importantly, he continued to keep close tabs on his players as they moved on to play in high school and college, many of whom maintained contact with him as adults.

He was an avid collector of old newspaper articles, pictures, letters and memorabilia about family which he would pull out periodically to show friends, family and especially his grandchildren. To Jim, these memories were very precious and he seemed to enjoy them more than ever the past year as they came out more often. He was also interested in genealogy, and spent many hours looking into his New England roots traveling to New Gloucester, Maine to the Nevins family cemetery and the family homestead, along with exploring the family’s connection to Newburyport, Mass.. His brother, John Winfield, had done significant research finding that the Nevins family had descended from the Holland family of Prince Edward Island, Canada. Jim was also proud of his Franco heritage on his mother’s side and enjoyed visiting relatives in Cabano, Quebec. He loved Aroostook County and had a great appreciation of the people and culture of the region. He especially enjoyed reading author Kathryn Olmstead’s short stories about “The County.”

Jim was a bit of a fickle New England sports fan. He rooted for the Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and Patriots throughout his life. However, he was known to be quick with the “off” switch on his remote if things weren’t going well for one of the teams. If the Red Sox got behind early in a game, he would turn them off and go mow the lawn. As such, he missed some pretty interesting comebacks over the years. If a Boston team was doing poorly, his sons would often ask him to turn off the game, knowing this would likely increase the chance of a comeback.

Jim is survived by his sons, Jeff and wife Barbara of Augusta, Tim and wife Elizabeth of Manchester and Todd of Portland; his grandchildren Jessica Kurtzman and husband Joshua of Hendersonville, Tenn. and Alyssa Benedict and husband Adam of Hallowell; his great-grandchildren, who always brought a big smile to his face, Claire, Margot, Connor and Grant; his brother-in-law, Terry Kaler of Augusta; his nephew, Michael Barden, who often visited Jim bringing a locally brewed New England IPA which they shared, his niece, Kimberly MacLaren of Epping, N.H.; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

The family would like to thank the staff of the Critical Care Unit at MaineGeneral for their care, support and counsel during a difficult time. Their compassion and patience was very much appreciated. Also, thanks to his wide network of friends – near and far – for your friendship and support. He enjoyed the time spent visiting or talking on the phone with his friends.

A private ceremony will be held at St. Mary Cemetery in Manchester and a celebration of life for family and friends will be held at the Augusta Country Club on Thursday, July 22, 2021 starting at 1:30 p.m.

Arrangements are in the care of Roberts Funeral Home, 62 Bowdoin St., Winthrop, where condolences to the family may be shared on the obituary page of the website at http://www.familyfirstfuneralhomes.com

In lieu of flowers the family is asking people to consider a donation to the:

St. Michael School

56 Sewall St.

Augusta, ME 04330 or:

Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Philanthropy Office

22 Bramhall St.

Portland, ME 04102 or

online at the following link: https://fundraising.mmc.org/bbch-donate-now