James McCaw Pickrell, Jr.

NORFOLK

James McCaw Pickrell Jr. was as loyal as they come – to his family, to his father’s law firm where he worked for 30 years, to his football-watching companions, his college alma maters, the New York Mets, and even to a Caribbean vacation hangout where everybody knew his name. Jim Pickrell left behind all of those loves when he died November 11, 2021, at age 60.

Jim grew up in Churchland, excelling in Boy Scouts, in which he reached the Eagle rank. After graduating from Churchland High School in 1979, he went on to The College of William & Mary, earning a bachelor’s degree. From there, he headed to the then-T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond.

It took only a year of work at a prominent Richmond law firm to convince Jim that he belonged back in Tidewater, and he joined the law firm of his father, James M. Pickrell Sr. Jim worked his way up through the firm now known as Kellam, Pickrell, Cox & Anderson, and helped mentor a sister, now an attorney with the firm. Among Jim’s clients were the Chesapeake Economic Development Authority, City of Norfolk, Hampton Roads Sanitation District and Southern Bank.

When Jim discovered something or someone he loved, he stuck with them: beginning with his wife of 27 years, Amber Wesley Delgado Pickrell, with whom he raised two sons, James McCaw Pickrell III and Robert Wilson Quick Pickrell, at their home in West Ghent. Another child, daughter Sarah Wesley Pickrell, preceded Jim in death.

Jim thoroughly enjoyed golf outings with his wife and sons and also coaching his sons’ Little League Mets baseball teams to championships. On Sunday afternoons, everyone knew he’d be hanging out at his backyard fireplace with his buddies, known as the Pit Crew. But unless they were members of that select bunch, no one ever knew what was said or done during those gatherings because what happened in the Pit stayed in the Pit.

Jim’s love for the New York Mets was unbreakable, just like an annual must-visit to the beautiful and rugged Jost Van Dyke, one of the British Virgin Islands. There, Jim joyously held down a seat at a bar known as the Soggy Dollar. When Jim socialized back home in Norfolk, it was often in the company of great friends with whom dinners traveled a world of conversation topics.

Jim was a member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, where he served as an acolyte team captain. He also served on the Hampton Roads advisory board of Southern Bank and was a member and Past President of the Virginia Club.

He was most proud of his sons and happy that they both followed him to William & Mary. Besides his wife and those sons, Jim also is survived by his sisters, Elizabeth P. Abiles (and her husband, Jose), and Janice P. Anderson (and her husband, James). Jim also leaves behind nieces, nephews, great nieces and a great nephew. In addition to a daughter, Jim was preceded in death by his father and his mother, Janice Aileen Quick Pickrell.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, November 17 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk with a private burial the following day at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made either to The College of William & Mary, P.O. Box 8795, Williamsburg, VA 23187 or St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1009 West Princess Anne Road, Norfolk, VA 23507. Condolences may be registered at BWFosterFuneralHome.com.