I remember not long before he and Sissy got married, the two of them were waiting for me across from Glenmont Elementary School to walk me home (unbelievably there is a video of that day with me walking out of the classroom in the FB Glenmont Elementary School group).
And while they were dating and after they got married, they would take me with them quite often: I first visited both the Chesapeake Bay and Ocean City with them. I remember Jimmy had a red convertible that was a blast to ride in.
At first, after they were married, Sis and Jimmy continued to live across the street in his mother’s home (and his mom, Mrs. Cooke, introduced me to the vice of cheese puffs. I loved to go visit her and help her empty the bag). They eventually bought a house out in a new (back then!) subdivision known as Aspen Hill. It even had a built in garage and a driveway of all things! There their family grew, and honestly my three nephews and my niece always seemed more like brothers and sister than anything else. I loved (and still love) their company. Whenever mom landed in the hospital, daddy would drop me off with them and I was happy as could be. Especially once I discovered the wonders of their Encyclopedia Britannica! Jimmy let his wife’s little brother freeload with them quite a bit. I even got to take swimming lessons at their neighborhood pool.
Jimmy didn’t stay with the post office. He held several jobs across the years, including doing a stint with NSA and finally working with the FBI (where his wife also landed and where his daughter still works), and I believe after he retired he continued doing contract work for them.. He never talked much about what he did, but I got the impression he worked on their gadgets. In his later years, he was always playing with the surveillance system he’d installed in their home.. I remember him announcing once when he was visiting us; “Side door just opened. Hannah’s (his granddaughter) home.” And though he was always reticent about what he actually did, I know he had huge respect there at the Bureau. If I ever asked him to spill the beans on what really was going on, he’d always chuckle and say: “Bill, trust me on this, you just really don’t want to know. You just don’t want to know.”
When my dad died, he graciously allowed us to blend households: Sis and Jimmy and family moved back to Richardsville, and mom added onto Butch’s old home, and then mom and I moved in with them. I was already in my third year of college, so I was mostly only there for holidays and summer break. Still, I am grateful for them doing that especially for the way Jimmy and Sis and their family took care of mom in her declining years.
I remember one time when I was serving my vicarage in Garfield, New Jersey (right across from Manhattan), Jimmy drove up and spent the night with us. He had an FBI meeting to attend in the city. I think he talked more that visit than at any time previous! Cindi had to rush off to her job in the morning, but Jimmy and I lingered over breakfast and coffee, chatting.
We frequently would stop at Cracker Barrel with Sis and Jimmy, though last time we got together I think we all ate at a steak house. I would never have guessed it would be our last visit. My sister has had a number of health issues over the years, but Jimmy always seemed to be healthy as a horse. Alas in the last month or month and a half, he ended up hospitalized, home for a bit, hospitalized again, then rehab and back to the hospital for a final time with trouble breathing.
I know I’m going to miss him big time. I can’t even imagine how awful it is going to be for my sister, his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. You see, he always pretended to be gruff while he spoiled them rotten (yes, my sister too) - I remember telling him, half jokingly, once that he needed to adopt me! His famous chuckle (okay, more of snort): “No.”
He was truly more like a brother than a brother-in-law since I have no memory of life without him in it. Rest eternal grant him, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon him!
