James M. Schmalhofer, 81, of Lancaster passed away Tuesday, June 05, 2018. James was born in the Cabbage Hill section of Lancaster, PA and he was the son of the late Mathias J. and Catherine Conrad Schmalhofer. He was the husband of the late Suzanne Bennawit Schmalhofer who died October 20th 2007 and they had celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary May of 2007. Jim was a 1954 graduate of Lancaster Catholic High School and also a graduate of DeVry Technical Institute, Chicago, IL where he received an associate degree in electronics. Jim also held a F.C.C. First Class Broadcast Engineering License. Jim retired after thirty-six years of service as a senior engineering technician in the color picture tube division with the former RCA Corp. where he was involved in the development and improvement of magnetic devices and the electron gun for color picture tubes. Jim was previously employed as a broadcast engineer/announcer at the former WGSA radio station in Ephrata, PA. He was also employed by Melpar Inc. of Falls Church, VA, where he was involved in the design and development of electronic counter measure equipment for the U.S. Navy and the B-52 bomber for the U.S. Air Force. Jim was also previously employed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratories of Laurel, MD, where he was involved in the early research of Laser technology. He also served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps Reserves for six years as a Cryptographer. During his retirement, he was a religious education teacher at his parish, St. John Neumann where he also served as a lector, and he and his wife Suzanne, served for ten years as mentors, preparing engaged couples for marriage. Jim was also a former member of St. Joseph Parish, Lancaster where he grew up, and in his youth was an altar server for nine years. Jim was fortunate to serve in the St. Vincent DePaul Society at St. Joseph with the dedicated men and women who serve the poor and as an officer and past president. Jim was also trained and served as a parish planner for several years. Jim's hobbies were photography and writing poetry. Jim had written over 300 poems in his lifetime and in 2008, self-published a book of poetry titled "Poems for all Seasons" that will remain very special to family and friends. Surviving is a daughter, Laura Schmalhofer Moore, wife of William "Bill" Moore, Jr. and a granddaughter, Gabrielle Schmalhofer Moore of Leola. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11AM on Friday, June 8, 2018 at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 601 E. Delp Rd, Lancaster, PA 17601 with Rev. John Schmalhofer and Rev. Timothy Sahd as con-celebrants. Interment will follow in St. Joseph's New Catholic Cemetery. Family and friends will be received from 9:30-11AM at the church on Friday.