James Mario Battisti

James Mario Battisti, 90, passed away peacefully in his sleep on October 19th, surrounded by family at his home in Malvern, PA. 

Jim started his career as a photographer in the Berlin Command of the U.S. Army and later, the Philadelphia Police Department. He married the love of his life, Dee, on September 2, 1961. Jim was originally from Hudson, MA, and they lived for a time in Philadelphia, but eventually settled in Swarthmore, PA, where they lived for 50 years. In 2021, they moved to the senior community of Echo Lake, where they instantly made many friends.

Jim made his way into a long career in Human Resources Systems consulting, but he never lost his love for photography, film, and art. After retiring, he spent the next 20 years volunteering as a guide at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He continued his photography until just before his death, and especially enjoyed creating and giving out handmade notecards.

Jim and Dee especially enjoyed traveling. Together they went all over Europe, and explored places as far away as Turkey, Egypt and China. He was a lifelong baseball and sports fan, too– raised on the Red Sox of Ted Williams, but later in life a diehard Phillies’ and Eagles’ fan who rarely missed a game. 

Jim could find a joke in just about any situation. Although he wasn’t really an extrovert, he could be the life of the party in social situations, with his wisecracking, goofiness, and irreverent sense of humor. At the Museum, he was known for dressing as Salvador Dalí during the Dalí exhibition. Neighborhood kids famously came to the door to ask if he would come out and play. Despite all that, Jim was, at heart, a bit of a homebody who enjoyed running, doing puzzles, or working on his photography.

Jim always believed he had led a charmed life. At the time of his death, he was working on a memoir that he entitled Lucky Jim. He was in the Army, for example, but never saw combat. He got into computer programming just as the world of computers took off. And apart from a bout with appendicitis when he was 8, he never spent a day in a hospital.

Jim is survived by his loving wife of 64 years, Dee, his sister Elizabeth Battisti of Hudson, MA and his brother Paul Battisti of Modesto, CA, his daughter Amy and her partner Michael, his son Steven and his wife Melinda, and five grandchildren, Chris, Tyler, Jenna, Michael, and Shae. A commemoration of his life will be held on November 15, 2025 from 2:30-4:30pm at Echo Lake in Malvern, PA. In lieu of flowers, donations are being accepted at Photographers Without Borders of Philadelphia.