James B. Clark

1926 - 2015

James B. Clark

Chesapeake - Jimmy Clark, 88, passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early morning hours of Friday, January 2, 2015 at his Chesapeake home. James Burks Clark was born September 12, 1926 in Bessemer, Alabama to the town sheriff, William Oscar Clark, and his wife, Minnie Louise Hyfield. Jimmy's family moved to Norfolk, Virginia in 1941 and he became very active in the local sports scene. At 5'6 and 120 pounds soaking wet, Jimmy was a renowned boxer and won several titles and championships. When the call of war came, Jimmy answered and served his country as a U.S. Navy coxswain during WWII, seeing action in the Pacific, where he served on Eniwetok. Once back home, Norfolk Recreation Bureau Director J.T. Shelnutt saw Jimmy playing baseball at Dunn Field and, impressed with the boy, took him under his wing, helping him to get a job with the city. Jimmy had a tryout for the Norfolk Tars (Triple-A Team of the Yankees) but despite a brilliant tryout, he was turned down because of his small stature.

Jimmy was playing shortstop in a Pepsi-Cola fast pitch softball game when he met his sweetheart, Helen Evelyn Fentress. As Helen has asserted ever since, "diamonds really are a girl's best friend" (baseball diamonds, of course). Helen would go with her sister to the games where one day, Jimmy and Helen caught each other's eye. He shyly asked her to hold his jacket for the game. At the next game, he asked her to hold his wallet and invited her to the upcoming Memorial Day party at the Pepsi Pete Room. At the party, he asked her to go to Chic's Beach with him the following day. That afternoon, full of postwar enthusiasm for a new life and new future ahead, Jimmy proposed to Helen on their second date over lunch at Doumar's BBQ. Helen told Jimmy she would have to get to know him better, but before long, she knew this blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy was the only one for her. Jim and Helen were married between basketball and baseball seasons on March 20, 1948 at Burroughs Memorial Baptist Church on 38th Street with J.T. Shelnutt as best man. It was the only weekend of the year when there wasn't a game or practice of some kind. Their wedding made the local sports page.

Jimmy was a real star athlete whether in the boxing ring, on the football field, or on the baseball diamond. When he wasn't playing, he was coaching, mentoring and refereeing. Between working for the Norfolk Recreation League, training other boxers, refereeing Neptune football games, and coaching American Legion baseball (leading his post to win the State Championship in 1953), Jimmy was always very involved in local sports, with Helen as his most devoted cheerleader.

Jimmy was known for his quick wit and dry sense of humor. Once, while Jimmy was refereeing a Maury/Granby game, a famous Maury coach was frustrated with a call and yelled "Jimmy Clark, you stink!" The whistle blew and the flag was thrown. Jimmy marched the ball back 10 yards and quipped, "How do I smell from here?" The coach kicked the water cooler down the sideline.

Jimmy worked for the City of Norfolk for over 25 years as Assistant Real Estate Assessor. Following his retirement in 1971, he worked for Atlantic Permanent Savings and Loan and Virginia Beach Federal. Jimmy went on to start his own appraisal company, traveling all over the country to conduct appraisals. He taught classes at Tidewater Community College and seminars at the University of Virginia. He served as president of the Tidewater Chapter of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers.

A devoted husband of 67 years, anyone who saw Jim with his beloved Helen knows that Mr. and Mrs. Clark grew more in love as each year went by. Jim was a proud father to James M. Clark and his wife Jane (Little Rock, AR), Robert W. Clark, and Cynthia C. Dragas and her husband Greg Dragas. He was a wonderful "Pa" to his three grandchildren M. Gregory Dragas, James G. Dragas, and Annabelle D. Xanthos and her husband the Rev. Deacon Christopher Xanthos (Houston, TX), and to his two step-grandchildren Nicole P. Sanderlin and Gavin T. Sanderlin. Jim is predeceased by his parents, brother William Andrew Clark, and half-sister Violet Clark Knute.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, January 8 at H.D. Oliver Funeral Home, 1416 Cedar Road Chesapeake, VA 23322 at 11:00 am with interment at Forest Lawn Cemetery. The family will receive visitors at the funeral home on Wednesday, January 7 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Jimmy's memory to The Alzheimer's Association or Guiding Eyes for the Blind. The family would especially like to thank Marian Cundiff and Mike Swann for their loving care.

In his youth, Jimmy Clark was an all-American boy who lived and breathed local sports. He grew into a man of strong principles, quiet and humble, with a twinkle in his eye and a way of making anyone laugh. He will be dearly missed.