James Heugh, 97, artist and illustrator

James Heugh, 97, an artist and illustrator formerly of Downingtown, died Sunday, May 29, at Shawnee Gardens Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center in Shawnee, Kan.

For most of his career, Mr. Heugh was a freelance graphic artist and illustrator and painted watercolors for pleasure.

In 1958, he won a gold medal at the Philadelphia Art Directors Club Show for an illustration of a speeding locomotive. His depictions of outer-space exploration were included in a children's book, What's Going On in Space?

In the 1960s and 1970s, Mr. Heugh was an advertising artist for The Inquirer. He painted a mural, depicting newspaper production, in the composing room of the company's building on North Broad Street.

Mr. Heugh graduated from Frankford High School and attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts on a Philadelphia Board of Education Scholarship. After graduating in 1936, he studied in Europe on a Cresson fellowship.

In 1940, he married artist Frances Cowan, whom he had met at a PAFA summer session in Chester Springs. "He threw her into the pool," said their daughter, Nancy Edmondson.

During World War II, Mr. Heugh served in the Army in Richmond, Va., designing graphics and camouflage.

After retiring in 1979 to Pinehurst, N.C., Mr. Heugh won several prizes in regional exhibitions for his paintings and wildlife sculptures. He was a dedicated gardener and enjoyed golf and tennis.

Mr. Heugh's wife died in 1999. He moved to the Midwest in 2009 to be near his daughter.

In addition to her, he is survived by a son, J. Alan Heugh, and nieces and nephews.

A service will be scheduled.