James Parker May

James P. May, beloved father of Coral May and James A. May and dearly loved husband of Annette Blum, died on December 9th in Brevard, NC. He was born in Worthville, Kentucky, the third of six children of A.P. and Carolyn May who taught him the importance of a strong and loving family. He spent his very young years in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and graduated from high school in Mobile, Alabama. Not content as a college student, he and a buddy drove from Mobile, Alabama, to Alaska, a trip that provided many lessons and many stories for the rest of his life!

While working in Panama with enthnobotanist James B. Duke, Jim met and married Beti Basilica Sanjour. They had two children, Coral Basilica May and James Alton May. Jim subsequently earned degrees from Birmingham Southern College; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and Florida State University. Jim and Beti and Coral and Jimbo had many adventures, including living on a sailboat in the Bahamas. After one year of teaching at Arizona State University, Jim started teaching geology at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, and retired from there after twenty-five years. His scholarly accomplishments are still respected and in use in the field of geology.

He had many titles in his life: PFC (in the Marines), Ph.D. (in geology), Colonel and Professor Emeritus (at the Citadel), but the title that meant the most to him was Papa.

A deer hunting friend told him about using a mountain bike to get out to deer stands, and that led to a series of changes and decisions which eventually introduced him to Annette Blum, a fellow cyclist, who became his wife in 1993. The adventures continued! Together they traveled, often camping and bicycling, in many places in the US and overseas. They rarely made reservations, instead trusting to incredible luck and knowing they were resilient and resourceful.

Jim and Annette moved to Brevard, North Carolina, where they were active in hiking and a wonderful social life. In later years, the move to College Walk provided new activities and new friends and a much easier way of life. Jim always enjoyed jazz, classical music, eating healthy food, and drinking Coronas.

He is survived by his wife, his daughter Coral May and daughter-in-law Erris and grandson Nate Horton in Greensboro, his son Jim May and daughter-in-law Evan and grandchildren Charlotte and Joshua and Caris in El Paso, and all the rest of the well-loved May family, including his sister Linda Stone in Birmingham, Alabama, and his brother Bill May in Metairie, Louisiana.

Honoring Jim with a donation to Conserving Carolina would be a lovely gesture.