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BORN
1951
DIED
2024
James Combs Obituary
September 19, 1951 - August 2, 2024
Lexington, Kentucky - James A. Combs, 72, of Lexington passed away August 2, 2024. He was born on September 19, 1951 in Minot, N.D. He was a beloved brother, uncle, friend, educator, mentor, a cat lover and a member of Second Presbyterian Church.
Jim obtained a master's degree in education and had a 31-year history-teaching career with Fayette County, primarily at Lafayette High School. He also was the speech coach and, with Jay Fore, brought the team to state prominence in the 1990s. Jim spoke often and fondly of his students and remained in touch with many of them throughout his life. He was inducted into the Kentucky High School Speech League Hall of Fame in 2005 and had served as a Board Member and Chairman of the League.
Jim was also passionate about musical theater. In addition to performing in many shows at Diner's Playhouse and Jenny Wiley, he was a past Board Member and President of the Lexington Musical Theatre. He also directed two shows of "Godspell" for the Senior Youth Fellowship at Second Presbyterian Church in 1977 and 1978.
Jim spent time researching and writing about the history of Lafayette High School and Second Presbyterian serving on the archive committees at both. With his love of family, he did extensive genealogical research and captured oral histories, and was a past president of the Combs Family Association. He also enjoyed spending time at the family cottage on Beaver Island in Michigan.
Jim is preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Arnold B. Combs and Nancy Covington Combs. He is survived by his sisters, Mary Councill (George) of Louisville and Nancy Maffett of Colorado Springs, numerous nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews, cherished friends and beloved former students.
A private family burial will be held prior to a public memorial service at Second Presbyterian Church on Friday, September 20 at 11:00. The Lafayette Speech and Theater families are hosting a celebration of Jim's life at the high school on Sunday, September 22 at 3:00. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lexington Theater Company (PO Box 12067, Lexington 40580), the Kentucky High School Speech League (khssl.org/payment) or the Combs Music Fund at Second Presbyterian Church.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for James Combs
Sponsored by Lexington Herald-Leader.
Teresa Rivera
August 4, 2025
Jim was a good friend. He listened, encouraged, and gave his time selflessly. I will always be grateful for his support.
KATHRYN DIXON TUSSEY
December 16, 2024
Broken hearted to learn of my cousin's passing. Will keep the memories of our numerous hours on the phone, discussing our relatives! God rest your soul.
Stephanie McGann Gardner
September 25, 2024
Dear Mary and family,
Jim was devoted to all of you and often spoke of childhood memories. His love of history, literature, and theater was evident in his classroom and activities. I was out of town and sadly couldn't attend his celebrations. Please take care of yourselves and remember all the good times and Jim's contagious laugh!
Michael Dismuke
September 23, 2024
I cherish the times we spent together you were such a great conversationalist. Oh how you loved plays. Thank you so much for sharing your friendship with me. I truly wish we could have spent more time together.
Marci (and Bob) Miller, Frankie Harvener, Jan Myatt, Jo Mardis
September 17, 2024
The TLC luncheon group is composed of former Lafayette teachers who have tried to meet monthly since our retirements in the late 1990´s-2000. Although Jim was younger than we are, we remembered his big, friendly personality with fondness and recently welcomed him into our midst. We had a year´s worth of nice lunches, lending support to each other as we faced the various challenges and illnesses that come along with our older years and are so grateful for those last times with him. His incredible memory and interesting stories added to our good memories of Lafayette and all those wonderful folks we met along the way. We miss you, Jim.
Margaret Anne Reynolds Foster
August 25, 2024
I worked with Jim for quite a few years on the board of the original Lexington Musical Theatre back in the 1980s. He was a true driving force for the arts in Lexington for many years. Those were some happy times when we were all working together to "put on a show!" So many productions and all with predominantly volunteer labor! I am extremely interested in what is going to happen to the photographic files Jim paid for through the years as he personally hired a photographer for each production and kept carousels of slides for each show that we used to promote the next year's productions. Jim was always very protective of this visual archive so I am sure he would want them to be preserved for posterity. I have always wanted to get those photographs digitized in order to create a pictorial history of the organization as I designed the posters, programs and advertising for many of the productions during that period, some of which I also participated in the chorus. I plan to attend Jim's Memorial Service and Celebration of Life Service and hope to meet his family and find out more about his wishes regarding the preservation of his LMT archives. So sorry for his loss... he was a great guy!
Elizabeth Kikuchi
August 25, 2024
Jim was a very caring amd sensitive student when I taught him at Sayre School. He will be greatly missed.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Kikuchi
Ms Kaye Combs Moore, Lexington [formerly Whitesburg]
August 23, 2024
So sad to read that Jim departed on my birthday! I was a member of the Combs Family Assoc & enjoyed our reunions! I am in the DAR through our Combs ancestor. Enjoyed being the Dental Hygienist for Dr Combs, Nancy & Jim years ago.
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