In 1990, when Neil Michelsen passed away, little did he know that his legacy would be maintained by a chemical engineer who graduated from Louisiana Christian University. For the past 14 years, ACS has been financially assisted by Jim Jossick, the husband of Maria Kay Simms. While Maria set the course for the company, Jim provided Maria with support for the development of ACS. Unfortunately, that partnership came to an end when Jim died on May 29 at age 87. ACS will continue in business after making many changes, and Jim had the foresight to put events into motion.
Looking over Jim’s chart, one can see some of the details of his life. With Leo Rising, some of the ladies found him to be handsome. He had a gravely, growly voice, similar to that of John Wayne, though I always thought he sounded more like Brian Keith. Sun conjunct Venus with both sextile Mars and Neptune gave him a good amount of sex appeal, especially since he fathered seven children, leading to a large assortment of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. With Sun/Venus square Saturn, his family was always on his mind, and he had firm values on how children should be raised. Uranus on the Midheaven blessed him with technical skills and innovative ideas in the field of chemical brazing. Mercury opposing Pallas and squaring Ceres helped him in making decisions which turned out to be of benefit to his family.
Juno conjunct the Moon in the Sixth House gave Jim a strong sense of competition. Juno-Moon can be helpful in family businesses. Jim was involved with Connecticut Engineering, which was started by his family to manufacture metallic powders. He started his own division in the company with a department to manufacture brazing paste. In the mid-1980’s, when transiting Pluto was entering his Sun sign Scorpio, Jim formed a separate company, Omni Technologies. He still maintained contacts with the family business, and had help from his sons in starting the new company. As Pluto moved through his Fourth House in the 1980’s and 1990’s, there was upheaval in family matters with operating Omni out of the basement of his home, and then moving the company to New Hampshire, making new business acquaintances and buying new property. It was not until 2000 when Pluto was moving into his Fifth House that the business stabilized.
Jim had purchased a large building in Epping, NH for his factory and offices. During the Pluto in Sagittarius years, the business grew so large that Jim had to buy a factory in Brentwood, NH to increase production. Half of the building in Epping was rented out to Comcast. The other half of the building had empty offices until 2008, when Pluto was moving into Capricorn. That was when Maria bought the assets of ACS and moved the business to New Hampshire. It was a time of national financial upheaval with a crisis involving the major banks. At the time, Jim decided to help ACS by providing free office space for the rebirth of the company in Epping, NH.
The offices at 334-A Calef Hwy were very spacious, which was needed considering all of the equipment and books that had been transported from California. Computers were set up in each office. Books and boxes of books lined the shelves. Though Jim had an office at the factory in Brentwood, he still kept an office with the new ACS in Epping. With transiting Pluto sextile his Mercury and trine his Pallas, these were productive years as ACS sought out new customers and established contacts with old customers who may not have known about the move.
By the time transiting Pluto passed over his natal Moon/Juno, Jim had sold Omni Technologies, and much of the equipment was sold to a chemical company out of state. The factory was sold to a company that prepared yogurt. Jim settled in to a daily routine of visiting his office in Epping. Though he was approaching 80, he took a lesson from the younger generation and was always on his cell phone. He probably did not need an office to conduct other business, but the trips to Epping remained an important part of this day.
By 2017, when Jim was approaching his Uranus return as well as having transiting Pluto sextile his Sun/Venus, ACS underwent another change. ACS was moved around the corner to a small building Jim also owned, which was a former bicycle shop. For four years, ACS was located at 68A Fogg Road, and the additional space in the building allowed for the creation of Starcrafts, a gift shop that had art work, jewelry, knick-knacks and assorted bric-a-brac on consignment. The building also served as a meeting place for the local astrological association, with enough space for about 50 people to be seated to hear monthly lectures on a variety of astrological topics. Jim moved his office to the upstairs of the gift shop, and the daily trip to Epping remained as part of his schedule.
The good times of ACS and Starcrafts did not last. The arrival of the Covid pandemic in 2020 brought an end to the gift shop. ACS had the remaining space available, but the empty space did not last for long. By 2021, Jim was expecting a Pluto opposition to his Natal Pluto, as well as transiting Pluto squaring his Uranus and approaching a square to his Midheaven. I suspect it sent a message to him that he needed to get his affairs in order. During the real estate boom of 2021, Jim put his real estate holdings up for sale. By the Summer ACS was faced with having to move out of Epping and becoming a work-from-home business. A post office box was set up in East Kingston. The main computers went to Kensington, and customer service was moved to Durham.
During this time of upheaval, Jim was distracted by personal matters and making arrangements for his family, and his office was moved to an extra room at his house. In the spring of 2022, with his third Saturn Return taking place as well as Neptune opposing Neptun, health issues began worsening, resulting in hospital stays. He managed to avoid Covid, but other conditions worked against him. He passed away just as Uranus was moving to an opposition to his Venus. Jupiter was passing over his natal Eris as things seemed to be improving but then took a turn for the worse. With Maria by his side, he passed away on May 29, and was interred in Newtown, CT on June 2.
With Ceres trine Vesta, Jim may best be remembered as a devoted family man and patriarch. Pallas trine his Moon/Juno made him to the man to go to for discussing what was needed and what was not needed. Chiron sextile his Ascendant and both quincunx Moon/Juno always gave him an opinion on what needed to be done, even if it was something you might not want to hear. He was someone who would always be there for you, even if he was on his cell phone.
