James K. "Jim" Pendergast, 90, of Tulsa, passed away on February 12, 2011. He was born in Bridgeport, CT, on December 28, 1920.

He first came to Oklahoma in 1943 to train at Camp Gruber as part of the 557th Field Artillery. Here he met Minnie Lee Devero of Morris, OK, whom he promised to marry when he returned from World War II.

Shortly after the Normandy Invasion in June 1944, the 557th landed in Europe with its self-propelled 155mm guns. For the next ten months the battalion fought at Brest, the Battle of the Bulge, up the west side of River Rhine. Crossing the Rhine at Wesel on March 31, the 557th supported the final 300 mile dash to the River Elbe at Arneburg and a meeting with the Russians as the Germans surrendered Western Europe on May 7.

True to his word, Jim returned safely and married Minnie Lee on August 2, 1945, in Bridgeport, CT.

He began his career as a self-employed carpenter and contractor in Fairfield, CT, where he built and remodeled homes for over thirty years. Concurrently, Jim taught himself woodworking and furniture making which he pursued as a lifelong hobby to the special delight of his daughters.

Jim and Minnie Lee retired to Tulsa in 1982 where he was an active member of the Woodworkers Club. He continued to build furniture and began a second career as he made wood bases for local sculptors Rosalind Cook, Jay O'Melia and Gary Hale. Wood was his passion and he never tired of creating beautiful objects with a range of carefully selected woods.

Jim was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 41 years, Minnie Lee. He is survived by his sister Margaret Pendergast Smith of Bridgeport, Ct and his two daughters of Tulsa; Barbara Farrell and husband, Ed, and Janice Horowitz and husband, Andrew. Jim is also survived by four grandchildren Jim, Bob and Luke Farrell and Andrea Horowitz; and four great-grandchildren, Jack and Ray Farrell, of Biloxi, MS, and Grace and James Farrell of Haddonfield, NJ.

Funeral Service will be held at 9:00 a.m., on Saturday, February 19 in Fitzgerald's Ivy Chapel, 1402 S. Boulder Ave., Tulsa, followed by Interment at Morris Cemetery.