James Robert Pond, Director of Transportation for Monroe County, 62, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. He was born Aug. 24, 1959, in Oak Park, IL to James Burton III and Marguerite (Scaer) Pond. Jim married Mary Alice Whiting on April 20, 1991. They celebrated their 30th anniversary this year.
Jim has been a member of Pittsford Community Church for over fifteen years, including six years as a trustee, and was actively involved in the church choir. He was involved in many community activities over the years, including riding with the Saturday morning bike group, playing keyboard for the band Nebula, hiking every Memorial Day weekend with the Tahawus Adirondack hikers, and volunteering at the LPGA and PGA whenever they came to Rochester. He was a life-long music lover, a train enthusiast, and a lover of nature. Jim always enjoyed a good dad joke. He loved to travel and had visited the 48 mainland states with his family. He rode his bike to work for eight years, often making new friends on the trail.
He worked for the Monroe County Department of Transportation for nearly 28 years, starting as a Senior Traffic Engineer and working up to the Director of Transportation for Monroe County. Prior to working for Monroe County, Jim was employed at Sear Brown for nearly five years. He served in the Navy from 1981-1987, at various duty stations including three years in the Seabees. He received a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University and a master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Jim has been a member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers since 1987, and of the New York State Association of Transportation Engineers since 2012.
Jim is survived by his wife, Mary Pond, his son, Zachary James Pond, his daughter, Jennifer Allison (Pond) Hardy, and her husband, Michael Hardy. He is also survived by his mother, Marguerite Pond, his sister and brother-in-law, Jeanne and William Hepp, and niece and nephew Michelle and Brian Hepp. He is predeceased by his father, James Burton Pond III, and his brother, Christopher Pond.
A celebration of life for Jim will be held Sat. Oct. 16, 2021, at 2pm at Pittsford Community Church, 421 Marsh Rd., Pittsford. A private burial will be held for family only. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes that memorial contributions be made to either the Adirondack Mountain Club, Pittsford Community Church, or Gospel Volunteers Inc. at Camp-of-the-Woods, Speculator NY.
Comments
25 responses to “Pond, James Robert”
I am so saddened to hear of Jim’s sudden passing. He was a good friend with an infectious smile. We rode many miles together on our bikes. My thoughts and prayers go out to his loving family.
I am so sorry to hear this horrible news!
Sorry for your loss
I’m so sorry to hear of Jim’s passing. I have lots of good memories of working with him with the Browncroft Music Maker kids so many years ago. Great guy to work with! Such a loss. My prayers are with you…
I am so sorry for your loss. Jim was such a great man to work with. He was a brilliant engineer and will truly be missed in our field. One of a kind.
My heart aches for the loss of Jim so suddenly. My prayers will continue for his sweet family.
Heartbroken to hear this and praying for Mary, Zach, Jenn & Michael. I wanted to write a brief poem in memory of him:
It’s hard to imagine
what heaven will be like
but one thing
we know for sure is
there will be singing
When Jim Pond played music
he never wanted to stop –
he always said yes
to another song
I imagine he must be
filled with such joy
to have a green light
from God
to be playing and singing
for all eternity
I was so sad to hear this news and have been praying for Mary and the family. I sincerely hope they can find peace knowing he is with the Lord.
I am so sad and shocked at the loss of Jim. I played with Jim at Unity with Nebula and he would often look at me while we were playing and smile. We both keep the others on beat as I would play near him and we always had a wonderful time. He truly loved playing for our patients and he had a warm and loving heart. He will be greatly missed, but I know he will be worshipping the Lord up in heaven and playing sweet music. My prayers and heartfelt sympathy to his family. I am sure Jim is in the Lord’s loving arms. I pray for God’s blessings to Jim’s family and friends that our Lord give you all peace, strength and comfort during this difficult time..
This was devastating news … Jim was one of my favorite people to work with/be around … very professional, very respectful. I was never greated by Jim without that disarming smile. I think that was it – so welcoming in every way. Wish the very best to the family.
Jim was a member of my Bible Study group at Browncroft Community Church many years back. He was a gentle yet strong man of faith. I’m so sorry to hear that he is gone so soon, but we can rest assured that he is with his savior now.
What a loss of a wonderful person. We Saturday bikers called him “DIESEL” because his legs would pump like a diesel engine, never letting up but always coming back to make sure that we slower bikers were safe. We will miss him.
WOW This was certainly a shock. I have known and worked with Jim for almost 39 years. He was a dedicated professional who was a leader in his field. The entire community has lost a caring individual. To Mary and his family I share my condolences..
Denise and I are so sorry to hear of the loss of this wonderful man. Jim was always ready with a smile and kind comment. He said he used to sit near the piano to watch what I was doing for improve at worship at PCC. Jim sane tenor in choir and had a mastery of sight-reading the scores. I often tried to sit near him so I could learn the correct way to sing. We will be praying for the family’s loss. Jim was a great man and will be missed.
Dear Mary,
Kevin and I are so sad to hear about Jim’s passing. We have many happy memories of our time at the College and Career group at BPC. Our prayers are with you and your family. May God’s peace and comfort be with you.
Jim. we will all miss you! You went way too soon! I have many fond memories of you throughout the years , especially since I was always visiting Jeanne during our high school years. You were the quintessential older brother and great guy! The years have flown by and you built a beautiful family and accomplished so much. I am glad to have known you and I trust God that we will meet again. We love you and we will never forget you! Sincerely, Ann Hoopes
2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Mary, My heart was so sad to hear about Jim. Praying for God’s amazing peace to envelope you and for you to be able to see on a daily basis God’s faithfulness. One day at a time. With love. Beth
To the Pond family,
I am saddened at the loss of your husband father and son. I first knew Jim nearly 50 years ago when he and I were youth at the central Presbyterian Church in Downingtown Pennsylvania. I reconnected with Jim about five years ago in the course of our work. We reminisced about growing up in Downingtown and discovered that each of our parents were lone living in the same retirement community. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
My prayers are with Jim family Jim always greet you with such great smile Jim always asked how I was doing . Jim was so kind to Rory my autistic son when I told Jim Rory like trains he showed us his awesome train collection Jim you will be missed God bless
Mary, I am so sad to hear of Jim’s passing. I so enjoyed our fellowship last summer on our MTB Bikes! He will be missed by many. I look forward to eternity with fellow believers in Christ like Jim. Blessings to you and your family. Jim Hammond
I always . I was saddened and surprised to hear of Jim’s passing. I enjoyed visiting and hiking with Jim Memorial Day weekend at John’s Brook. Sorry for your loss and blessings to his family.
It’s hard to imagine my lively, robust friend Pond, James Pond, has left us, but now he’s riding his bike on heavenly trails and is as robust as ever. I haven’t seen him in several years, but have so many fond memories of our friendship at Tulane University. I remember he attended in full Navy ROTC uniform one of the James Bond birthday parties I hosted. He had taken white-out and added a loop to the P in his surname, making it “Bond” for the occasion. My prayers go out to Mary, Zach and Jenn and the rest of Jim’s family.
Brian, what a fabulous memory of our friend. I don’t remember being at that particular Bond party with Jim, but if I missed it, it was my loss. Thank you so much for sharing this. My wife and I got a nice chuckle in the midst of our grief.
So sorry to hear this news – my prayers to the family!
I was surprised and saddened to hear of Jim’s passing. Jim and I knew each other for decades as our paths crossed periodically due to his responsibilities at Monroe County and mine at RTS. I was always happy to see him and remember his genuine smile. He was always willing to provide his assistance whenever a question came up or an issue needed to be addressed. I wish the very best to his family.