James A McFarland, Retired Manager of Ralph Evinrude Stuart Test Center
James (Jim) Alexander McFarland, 93, of Stuart, Florida, passed away on November 7, 2023, after a brief hospital stay.
Jim was born on September 10, 1930, to James E. and Esther McFarland in Duluth, Minnesota. He grew up in the small town of Carlton, Minnesota and in 1948 graduated from high school. He studied mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota, and in 1953 graduated with a master’s degree. Jim then worked for Champion Spark Plugs in Milwaukee until January 1954 when he was drafted into the United States Army.
Jim was stationed at Picatinny Arsenal, a military research and manufacturing facility in New Jersey, where he worked on the development of aerial bomb fuses. There he met his wife of 69 years, Elizabeth Claire McFarland. They were married in 1954 and went on to have four children: James, Linda, Patrick, and Michael McFarland.
In 1955 Jim began working as an engineer for Outboard Marine Corporation, maker of Johnson and Evinrude motors, in Waukegan, Illinois. After ten years, McFarland was asked to oversee the development and manage the operations of what would become the Ralph Evinrude Stuart Test Center (RETC) in Stuart, Florida. The land for the facility, a seven-acre plot with a single World War I era Quonset hut by the Roosevelt drawbridge, was purchased in 1963 at the behest of local resident and OMC Board Chairman Ralph Evinrude. Jim oversaw the development of this property into a modern marine engine testing facility with several large buildings, an enclosed marina basin, and 65 employees.
The RETC was the epicenter of the OMC testing and corporate relations. Jim hosted engineers from the Waukegan home office and Milwaukee OMC Research Facility to test and develop new products. He also managed the development of an endurance testing program to improve engines before their release, and hosted demonstrations of new products for Johnson and Evinrude to worldwide dealers and for the boating press. Jim also hosted prominent guests of Ralph Evinrude and Francis Langford, including Bob Hope and Perry Como, who frequented the site to cruise the Treasure Coast.
Jim supported the local community through OMC by providing loaner engines to the Martin County Sheriff’s Department and to the Environmental Center. Countless public-school children learned about saltwater estuaries around Stuart through field trips on the Environmental Center boat named the River Scout.
Jim retired from Outboard Marine Corporation in 1997 but continued in the marine industry as a consultant. He will be remembered for his contributions to the development of the modern marine engine.
Throughout his life Jim enjoyed boating, fishing, hunting, and traveling with his family and friends. He enjoyed driving tractors and making hay on his parent’s and grandparent’s farms in Minnesota. He was a kind, appreciative and generous man, and had a great sense of humor.
Jim was predeceased by his younger brother John. He is survived by his sister Jane, brothers Andy and David, his wife and his four children, eight grandchildren, and three great grandchildren with one more on the way.
A celebration of life for Jim will take place on Saturday, February 10, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center in Stuart, Florida. If you would like to attend RSVP through [email protected] by February 3.