Jim

James Albert Harle, 82, died on July 23, 2026, from complications that followed a stroke. As he wanted, he was at his home in Washington D.C., and had spent his last few days with family, friends, and plenty of love. Jim brought joy, laughter, and inspiration to people everywhere he went. He was a fine friend, a wise mentor, an ingenious problem-solver, and a mischievous soul who could reduce a child to fits of giggles from across the room with a single gesture.

Jim was born on October 13th, 1943, in Camden, New Jersey. In his youth, his aunt Dorothy sparked his interest in learning, his great-uncle Pete kindled his love for nature, and his cousin and partner-in-crime Bill helped get him into tinkering with cars and making homemade fireworks. As kids, Jim met Ardith Zybas at Camp Beisler, and a few years later, they married, starting an amazing 59 year adventure. They shared a love of music, children, museums, history, and the natural world, as well as a deep commitment to their Lutheran faith and lives of service. They were charter members of First Lutheran Church in Calvert County, Maryland. Jim and Ardith’s longtime home on the Chesapeake Bay was the site of many gatherings, including an annual themed open house that brought together friends, neighbors, family, and co-workers.

As an undergraduate, Jim majored in Mathematics at Drexel University, and he later earned a Master’s degree in Numerical Science from Johns Hopkins, and one in Computer Science from the University of Maryland. His time in a Drexel co-op program at the Navy Labs in Annapolis opened the door for a position in academic computing at the Naval Academy. Jim worked with systems programming and remained at the Academy for 35 years. While there, he served on the national and international committees that were standardizing the BASIC computer language, and he wrote the first program for computer-based course registration, among many other accomplishments.

Jim was an avid traveler who visited 84 countries and all 50 states, making friends around the world. He was a tireless volunteer who served in many roles for the churches he attended; sang with the Annapolis Chorale for over 30 years; led trips, helped with research, delighted visitors at events, and served as Treasurer of Friends of Jug Bay Wildlife Sanctuary; participated in 18 Earthwatch projects, studying everything from Balinese temples to snake-eating crabs in Tobago; helped herd children on many field trips, sharing his spark of curiosity everywhere he went; served his community as an election judge and member of the Library Board for Anne Arundel County, Maryland. After he retired, Jim wanted to find an interesting new volunteer project. Little did the Smithsonian realize when he joined them that the map cataloguing that he took on would become a massive endeavor. Jim designed a database and a system for connecting digital scans with key information about each map, and he, two fellow volunteers, and a host of interns would eventually add over 40,000 maps to it.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents Herman Harle and Eleanor (Heinrich) Harle. He is survived by his wife, Ardith; his sister, Jean Harle (George); his son, Peter (Hal) and daughter, Cheryl Ottenritter (John); and his granddaughters, Madeleine and Zoe Ottenritter.

Jim was an active volunteer and supporter throughout life. In Lieu of flowers we encourage you to make a donation to a charity important to you.

These are some that were important to Jim.

Earthwatch Institute, research expeditions. https://earthwatch.org/support-us/donate

A.A County Public Library Foundation. https://www.aacpl.net/foundation/donate

Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. https://www.jugbay.org/

Annapolis Chorale. https://www.liveartsmd.org/

Smithsonian National History Museum. https://naturalhistory.si.edu/

First Trinity Lutheran Church. https://www.firsttrinitydc.org/