Travis Funeral Chapel

Jim was the best father-in-law, friend and teacher I could have ever ask for.

He was full of knowledge which he patiently shared and he gave me the gift of his blessing when I ask him to marry his daughter.

I’ll meet you on that beautiful shore, Buddy!

Len

Death is like a mirror in which the true meaning of life is reflected.

May you rest in peace free from pain and suffering. May you find eternal happiness and serenity.

Love,

J-bird

Dad began his 40 plus year career on the assembly line at Firestone Tire and Rim, in Quincy, Illinois; and in that position began pointing out to his supervisor how there were flaws and design processes that need improving; this awarded him the nickname of “eyeball” and moved into a position in the office as a draftsman. From that position he went to night school and after multiple other promotions ended his career in early 2000 as Senior Tooling Engineer retiring from Firestone and Accuride. Dad had the mind of a genius; a MASTER problem solver.

Growing up Mom and Dad made a decision to not own a TV. At school, and on the bus Dennis and I would hear about the previous nights episode of The Andy Griffith Show or The Brady Bunch; however, the previous night we had also been occupied, except it was on some type of “project”; which included helping Dad design and build a go kart for the two of us, using repurposed plywood, metal and a discarded lawn mower motor; or working on an auction find, the constructing and deconstructing of the metal erector set, that was assembled and disassembled with screws, bolts a screwdriver and wrench; or we were operating a secondhand electric train set, complete with lights, mountains and tunnels on a 12' x 8' plywood Dad position in the basement on some homemade legs (right in front of the washer and dryer); or we were riding the used 50cc red Harley-Davidson motorcycle that Dennis and I spent countless hours on, of which, I would like to point out, none of those hours on that motorcycle…..did Dennis ever let me to drive, and Dennis later persuaded every grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousin to take a spin with him, bringing hours of laughter, photo ops and later reminiscing.

Dad taught us how to disassemble and investigate the inside of just about anything around the house from clocks, mowers, toasters, vacuums, lamps, and flashlights, and these skills over the years…have proven to be the trump card over any episode of The Brady Bunch.

Dad loved to hear some “good ole Jim Reeves”, hymnals and songs from Alan Jackson and Josh Turner. In his final years, after a visit, he would always want to sing me a line of If we never meet again.
The section of song lyrics he remembered up until his final weeks were:

If we never meet again this side of Heaven,
I will meet you on that beautiful shore

And he would always add at the end

“And I will keep on loving you”

Until then Dad rest in Heaven.

Love you more Dad!
Carolyn

Mr. Mitchell as I referred to him and he would always say Mr. Mitchell is my father lol, so he then became Mr. Jim and he was such a joy and I am very blessed to have been able to serve such a precious gentleman. I loved when getting ready in the morning he would sing my favorite song that my dad always sang when I was little. Swing Low, he would laugh when I would tell him I used to call it sweet cherry haha. He left so many memories we will all cherish forever. Thank you for allowing us to care for your father. We all loved him so much and he brought so many laughs always singing and caring about others. What a wonderful gentleman with the best personality. We love talking about all his little quirks we loved.