Dr. James Louis Poirot

Dr. James Louis Poirot, age 79, of Fort Worth, Texas passed away Tuesday, October 17, 2023 surrounded by his family.

Vigil service and rosary will be held at 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, October 19, 2023, at DeBerry Funeral Home in Denton. Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Friday, October 20, 2023, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Windthorst with Rev. Tim Thompson, Celebrant, of All Saints Catholic Church in Fort Worth, Rev. Michael Moloney, Concelebrant, of St. Mary's Catholic Church of Windthorst and Deacon Barry Sweeden of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Denton officiating. Interment will follow in St. Mary's Cemetery in Windthorst under the direction of Aulds Funeral Home of Archer City.

Jim was born April 26, 1944 and was a loving husband, a wonderful father, a caring Granddad, a faithful friend, a dedicated educator and an extraordinary, ordinary good man. The youngest of Edmund and Emma Poirot, Jim grew up in Scotland, Texas and after meeting the love of his life, Peggy Schroeder he told her on their first date, "You know, I am kind of crazy about you", they were married on June 4, 1966 and married for 57 wonderful years.

Jim graduated from Texas Tech University with his PhD in mathematics and began teaching at Southwest Texas University in San Marcos, Texas. After a few years he was offered a position as a tenured professor in the Computer Science Department at North Texas State University. Jim authored and co-authored a number of textbooks on computer science. While at NTSU which became the University of North Texas, he founded the Texas Computing Education Association (TCEA) and the Texas Center for Educational Technology (TCET). TCET was responsible for helping to utilize the technology left by the Superconducting Super Collider project in Waxahachie, Texas. Jim worked with many of the school districts in Texas that benefited from the technology which became mobile science labs that toured the school districts to put students, who might not otherwise have the opportunity, in touch with the latest technology. Jim continued to work with educating teachers from all over the world to find better ways to utilize technology in their classrooms and was the consummate educator the entirety of his 50 year teaching career, was the assistant to the Provost of UNT and retired as a Regents Emeritus Professor.

From an early age to when he died, Jim was always a fan of sports, following the Texas Rangers closely and the evening before he died, his wife, Peggy, told him that the Rangers had beat the Astros in the second game of the ACLS, he opened his eyes and said, "Good!" Jim and Peggy loved to travel together over the years and they went on many trips together as well as would bring their children Pam and Jeff along when they could. He loved cruises and especially cruises in the Caribbean which led him to founding the Caribbean Educational Computing Conference after a teaching sabbatical he had at the University of Trinidad.

Jim was always involved in his church and when he and Peggy joined Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Denton, Texas they involved themselves in teaching religion classes, the Knights of Columbus (of which he had been involved for over 50 years and countless pancake breakfasts), funeral meals, hospital ministry and many other ministries. Jim and Peggy were also very concerned about their community of Denton and were involved in the Citizens Police Academy in which they started a yearly Christmas party for the entire Denton Police Department that made sure there was food and holiday fun at Christmas time for an entire 24 hour period at the Police Department. The hundreds of apple dumplings that they made each year became legendary! They received an award from the President of the United States which is the highest award that a citizen can get for volunteer work. Jim loved spending time up at the ranch that he and Peggy still have. He loved feeding his cattle, doing work around the ranch with his family and spending time up there with his grandson Steven. Jim deeply loved his wife Peggy, his children Pam and Jeff, his grandson Steven and daughter-in-law, Jean Dougherty-Poirot.

Jim is preceded in death by his parents, Edmund Joseph Poirot and Emma Marie (Frerich) Poirot of Scotland, Texas as well as his daughter, Pamela Sue (Poirot) Ingram and his sister, Valera (Babe) Churchman. Jim is survived by his wife Peggy; his son Jeffrey James Poirot and his wife, Jean Elizbeth Dougherty-Poirot; his grandson, Steven Wayne Ingram; his brothers, Eugene Poirot of Baytown, Robert Poirot and wife, Joy of Evergreen Colorado; and his sister, Edna Anderle and husband, Charles; brother-in-law, Danny Joe Schroeder and wife, Debbie; sisters-in-law, Gloria Schroeder and Berta Lou Eaves; as well as many nephews, nieces, cousins, family and friends. He will be missed by his family, friends, fellow educators and students whose lives he touched.