DAMARISCOTTA – James Charles Ainger, 84, passed away peacefully on the morning of July 31, 2020 after a six month stay at Cove’s Edge in Damariscotta, Maine. He was born and grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

He attended University School, and after high school he worked in a steel mill and hitchhiked to California (around 1954 when it was still relatively safe). He graduated from Colby College in 1960, and while there skied and fell in love with Maine.

He was a buyer at Jordan Marsh department store in Boston for 37 years. In the 1960s, he bought oil paintings and Christmas ornaments in Europe. In the 1970s, he bought small electrical appliances in Japan and Hong Kong. Later in a larger department, he bought major appliances in Japan and Louisville, Kentucky.

Travel was his passion, and he spent time in the Middle East, South East Asia, Mainland China and Africa. Germany was his favorite country, and he enjoyed World War II movies and spy novels.

In 1999 he and his wife Barbara retired to Kezar Lake in Western Maine. He enjoyed swimming, fishing, canoeing, sailing in a small fast “force five” boat, and piloting a small motor boat. In 2018, he and Barbara moved to a Schooner Cove apartment in Damariscotta, Maine.

He is survived by Barbara, his wife of 57 years; a sister-in-law, a brother-in-law, and three nieces.

No memorial service is planned at this time.

Arrangements are under the direction and care of the Strong-Hancock Funeral Home, 612 Main Street, Damariscotta, Maine 04543. Condolences, and messages for his family, may be expressed by visiting: http://www.StrongHancock.com.