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Driver
James Harold Driver -
Oak Island
James
Harold Driver, age 63, of Oak Island passed away
peacefully Thursday, July 11, 2013 at SECU Hospice and
Life Care Center in Bolivia, NC.
Jim was born to
Staley & Susanne Driver in Franklin Country, North
Carolina on April 19, 1950. He grew up working hard
alongside his family on their tobacco farm. After
graduating from Vaiden Whitley H.S., Jim attended
Appalachian State University. He loved to run and was an
accomplished athlete who earned the school’s first
scholarship awarded in cross country where he also ran
track and field. It was at Appalachian State that he met
his wife Jane, a fellow student and education major.
After graduation, Jim and Jane married in 1972 and
welcomed their only child, Corey four years later.
Jim taught P.E. at
Zebulon Elementary for 12 years and coached gymnastics
and the track and field team as well as several of his
son’s youth teams. Always an avid lover of all sports,
he passed on his passion to his son who competed in 8
different sports over the years. Jim Driver never missed
a single game and could always be found cheering from
the sidelines.
Jim pursued his
love of running and went on to run 53 marathons and
countless other races. After 12 years, Jim retired from
teaching to focus full time on the successful business
he started as a chimney sweep, Ashes to Ashes Chimney
Sweeps. Always a hard worker, Jim also salvaged golf
balls in the summer.
Most of all Jim
loved his family, and they loved him, the beach and
Jimmy Buffett. Together they enjoyed frequent vacations
to the Bahamas and the Caribbean where Jim would amuse
them by quoting his favorite lines from the movie
Captain Ron and his idol, Jimmy Buffett.
In 1998, he and
his wife bought a vacation home on Oak Island where the
family spent weekends and their summers until he and
Jane retired. After retirement, they designed and built
their dream home and moved to the beach full time where
Jim enjoyed long walks on the beach with his “grandog”
Rosie and taking in the magnificent Carolina sunsets on
the back deck. He was preceded in death by his father,
Staley Driver and his mother-in-law, Rose Cummings.
He is survived by
his wife of 41 years, Jane Driver and their son, Corey
Driver and his wife, Moriah and children, Forrest and
Bella and Rosie “the grandog”, his mother, Susanne
Driver, his brother, William S. Driver and his wife Pam
Driver, his sisters, Amy Driver and Lisa Driver, his
father-in-law, David C. Cummings, his brother and
sister-in-law Pete and Wanda Eller and their daughter,
Karli Eller and their son Michael and his wife, Kristine
Eller.
A memorial service
will be held at 3:00 pm Saturday, July 13, 2013 at
Peacock-Newnam & White Funeral Home Chapel with Reverend
Fred Roberts officiating.
The family will
receive friends one hour prior from 2:00 to 3:00pm at
the funeral home.
As Buffett sang, “Jimmy, some of it’s magic, some of
it’s tragic, but I had a good life all the way.”
In lieu of
flowers, the family has requested that donations be made
to the SECU Hospice House of Brunswick, 955 Mercy Lane
SE, Bolivia, NC 28422.
Peacock-Newnam
& White Funeral and Cremation Service, Southport