James Averill Obituary

James Reed Averill

NORTHAMPTON, MA - James ("Jim") Reed Averill of Northampton, Massachusetts, passed away on August 19, 2024, at the age of 88. Born in San Francisco, California, on November 29, 1935, he was the son of Dupree Reed Averill and Rosalie Diamond Averill, both of California. Jim was preceded in death by his parents; his two sisters, Catherine Duff and Rosalie Cooper, both of Oceanside, California; and his wife of 61 years, Judith W. Averill, who passed away in June 2023. Jim is survived by his daughter Annalaura Averill-Murray and her husband Roy Averill-Murray of Quito, Ecuador; his daughter Andrea K. Allen and her husband Alex Allen of Lisbon, Portugal; two grandchildren, Gabrielle P. Allen and James R. Allen; his beloved cat, Murphy; and many extended family members, friends, and colleagues.

Jim spent his youth in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains where his parents ran a resort at Pinecrest Lake, California, spending the winters in the nearby town of Sonora. After he and his eldest sister contracted polio, the family moved to Glendale and then Oceanside, CA, for the warmer climate. Jim graduated high school from the Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, CA, after which he served in the U.S. Army from 1954 through 1957, stationed for part of his tour in Frankfurt, Germany. He returned to the States and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and philosophy from San Jose (State College) University in 1959, after which he studied for one year at the Medical Academy in Düsseldorf and the University of Bonn in Germany under a Fulbright scholarship. There he met fellow Fulbright scholar and his future wife, Judith ("Judy") Wittenberger. They returned to the United States, settling in California to attend graduate school at the University of California¬¬ Los Angeles (UCLA). Jim received his PhD in Physiological Psychology from UCLA in 1966, and he began his professional career as a Research Psychologist with the University of California Berkeley, where he was employed until 1971. Jim and Judy wed on June 9, 1962, in Oceanside, California, and started their family while living in Berkeley.

In 1971, Jim accepted a position as Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Massachusetts (UMASS) Amherst, moving his family to their new home in Shutesbury where he and Judy would live for over 50 years. Jim attained the academic rank of Professor in 1976, a position he held at UMASS Amherst for 30 years until his retirement in 2006. Jim's research interests included theoretical perspectives on emotions and the psychology of emotions, with specific interest in anger, grief, love, hope, happiness, solitude, aesthetic experiences, spirituality, and emotional creativity. He published extensively (collectively over 130 articles, book chapters, books, and reviews on various aspects of emotion), and he is widely considered one of the founding fathers of the modern social-constructionist approach to the study of emotions.

Jim was intellectually curious about almost any topic under the sun, enjoying discourse on politics, science, astronomy, philosophy, and many other subject matters until the day he died. In retirement, Jim was an active member of Five College Learning in Retirement, taking and moderating seminars through this program. Jim and Judy enjoyed traveling both domestically and internationally, and in his lifetime, Jim visited every continent of the world. Jim will forever be remembered for his intellect, scholarship, kindness, compassion for others, sense of humor, and for the wonderful father he was to his two daughters.

The family would like to thank Rockridge Retirement Community, Elder Care Access, and the private caregivers who helped Jim and Judy immensely over the last two years.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family asks that donations in Jim's memory be made to The Kestrel Land Trust at Donate - Kestrel Land Trust (kestreltrust.org) to help conserve natural lands in the Connecticut River Valley where Jim and Judy made their home for over 50 years. They often walked along the river path not far from their home, and this is a place they loved so much.