James M Matarese

James M. Matarese, 91, retired executive and business owner died peacefully surrounded by family at his home in Bryn Mawr, PA on July 28, 2022, after losing his battle with Leukemia.

Jim was born in 1930 to parents, both immigrants from Ischia, Italy. He was the youngest of 9 children.

Jim’s first love began in 1947 when he purchased his first two-seater airplane and learned to fly. This would lead to 60 years of being a licensed private aircraft pilot, not to mention the eventual ownership of two small planes.

Around that time, he married Jane Deppe, now deceased, and had two daughters. When his daughters were young, his work was very demanding, but he but was the best “Girl Dad;” taking Marlene and Sandy to Stewart’s Root Beer Stand and playing backgammon.

Jim’s career began in 1949 working alongside his father and older brothers in a small machine shop, United Aero Products (UAP), in Burlington, NJ which over time became a major employer in the area. It would continue to grow, and Jim rose to President of the company, which eventually was taken over by a large New York company and became Macrodyne Industries, Inc., at one time an American Stock Exchange company. It manufactured aerospace products, primarily blades and vanes for aircraft engines. Affiliated companies, such as Hardman Aerospace, the largest manufacturer of airplane seating in the world were part of the mix. 

An important acquisition was Precision Metal Products (PMP) in El Cajon, CA. That company, primarily a metals forging facility was taken private by Jim and Betty Matarese, his second wife. In 2007, after the company had successfully transitioned from aerospace to prostheses, it was sold.

He was the proud owner of a 60-acre estate in Westampton, New Jersey where they lived comfortably, growing figs, and travelling for pleasure. He was a major donor to the Curtis Institute of Music where Betty Matarese is a Trustee Emirita.

In 2019 they moved to Beaumont at Bryn Mawr, a retirement community on the Main Line in Pennsylvania.

He is survived by his wife, Betty Matarese; daughters, Marlene Breene and Sandra Carlo; grandchildren, Michael, Daniel, Angela, Mara, and Hallie; great-grandchildren, Liam, Mia, and Rielyn.

Contributions should be made to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 100 N. 20th St., Fl #4, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

Expressions of sympathy may be sent to his family from www.pagefuneralhome.com

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