James Elvyn Triemplar

1950 - 2024

Triemplar, James "Jim" Elvyn, 73, of Richmond, Virginia, passed away on Wednesday, January 3, 2024 after an extended illness. He was preceded in death by his parents August "Augie" and Faye (Fagaly) Triemplar.

Jim was born on April 25, 1950, and was adopted as an infant by Augie and Faye. As a young boy living in Cheviot, Ohio (suburban Cincinnati), he enjoyed all things related to trains. His parents would indulge his love of trains with frequent trips to Cincinnati Union Terminal Train Station where they would spend time watching the trains enter and exit the station. Jim also benefited from a creative dad who assembled an entire train "town" around his S gauge train set; that set remained at Jim's home until his death.

At age 10, his father's employer moved the family to Richmond, Virginia. In 1968, Jim graduated from Douglas S. Freeman High School, where he was a member of the National Honor Society, the National Math Honor Society (Mu Alpha Theta), and the boys' cross country team. After high school, he attended the University of Richmond and began working as a driver for Gunst Distribution. He chose to become an educator and taught mathematics at Manchester and Dinwiddie High Schools. He also had coaching positions at these schools; thus began his path to an extraordinary coaching career.

In 1991, Jim joined the staff of the newly opened Atlee High School in Mechanicsville, Virginia. He continued as a teacher and later as an aide at Atlee and was the voice at Atlee football games as well as graduations. However, it was in his 25 years as coach of the Atlee cross country and track & field teams that he became the Virginia track legend that he is. As head coach, his athletes earned countless accolades and his teams won numerous Capital District and Central Region titles; in 2011 and 2015, he led Atlee to VHSL Group 5A State Championship titles. He had extraordinary recall of athletes' times and performances and could often remember particular statistics from many years prior. Jim remained at Atlee through 2016, when poor health made it necessary for him to retire. He enjoyed his retirement by staying in touch with many of the friends he made in his lifetime and by stopping by track practice when he could. He loved talking about meeting with the ROMEOS (Retired Old Men Eating Out on Sunday) and the many students and parents that stayed in touch with him long after he was their coach.

More than just a winning coach, Coach Triemplar was beloved by his athletes and their parents - the athletes, because he knew how to get the best from them; the parents, because his focus was teaching them to be good citizens of the world. He knew that their track careers were short, but that their life skills would carry them well beyond their school years and a winning track season. Coach will be greatly missed.

Visitation for Coach Jim Triemplar will be held on Sunday, January 28 from 3-7pm at Woody Funeral Home - Parham (for those interested, there will be an opportunity to share stories and anecdotes about Jim at 6pm). The funeral will be held on Monday, January 29 at 11am in the chapel of Woody Funeral Home - Parham; burial will take place immediately after at Westhampton Memorial Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund is being established (details to follow).