James Albert Meeks

James A. Meeks: A Life of Song
March 18, 1949 – February 28, 2023
Early on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, Jim Meeks joined his parents, Tom and Helen Meeks, as well as grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends in Heaven. He departed this life peacefully at home, with his wife Carolyn of more than 50 years at his side. He also dearly loved and is survived by son Michael (Monique) Meeks, daughter Joyia (Chris) Rinker, as well as grandchildren Megan Rose; Pamela Meeks; Kylie, Noah, Gabriel and Brooklyn Rinker; Dylan and Adalyn Meeks, and great-granddaughter Bella Rose.
"Papa Jim" also loved his blended-family "bonus grandchildren" Tyler Hilley (and his mom Monique Meeks) and Sophie Mae Dolbeer (and her parents Coleen and Gregg), plus countless children who spent their early years in Carolyn's home daycare laughing at his silliness. (Our apologies to preschool teachers who had to convince them that the alphabet does not include L-M-N-O-Pickle!)
Jim's own early years were spent growing up in Lorton with siblings and lifelong best friends Tom (Diane), Joan (Pete Duncan) – who remembers many early mornings when he woke up singing, waking everyone else too – and Susan (Lee Versteeg).
His love of singing carried through his youth, nurtured by two extraordinary high school choir directors: Jean Lower at Lakeview High School (when his family lived for several years in Battle Creek, Michigan) and Lana Bailey at Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge.
After graduating from Gar-Field in 1968, Jim attended Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore (now Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University). There, he studied voice with Metropolitan Opera Baritone Francesco Valentino, who taught him the art of Bel Canto singing, and performed in operas directed by Robert Lawrence. In later years Jim studied with Bass Todd Duncan, who originated the role of Porgy in DuBose Heyward, Ira and George Gershwin's American opera Porgy and Bess.
Having accepted the gift of Christ's salvation as a teenager and wanting to share that gift with others, in the 1970s Jim conducted a Christian choral group called Man Alive, made up mostly of teen and twenty-something singers and actors. Man Alive traveled around the region performing Celebrate Life, a "pulpit musical drama" by Buryl Red and Ragen Courtney. (One movement that some may recognize today is "In Remembrance of Me.") It was an experience that, five decades later, members still remember fondly, and some call "life changing."
Also in that decade, Jim began to pursue a career in opera. Initially, he sang baritone roles, such as Giorgio Germont in Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata and the painter Marcello in Giocomo Puccini's La bohème. He later began singing tenor roles, including the poet Rudolfo in La bohème, Canio in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II, with the Asolo Opera Company in Sarasota, Florida.
As much as Jim loved opera, he loved his family more. He wanted his kids to experience the kind of childhood he had, filled with fun and wonderful memories created with loving grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. This led him to focus his music career locally, where he was featured as tenor soloist with numerous choral ensembles throughout the Washington DC region. He also served as music director in area churches, including Fourth Presbyterian, McLean Presbyterian and Burke Community Church, and sang during the High Holy Days at Temple B'nai Shalom in Fairfax and Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church.
Along with his brother, Tom, Jim worked in early video production, both as a camera operator and video editor, producing educational videos for the National Park Service and United States Postal Service. He later worked with Forrest Boyd and Cal Thomas producing content in the early days of the Christian Broadcasting Network; Norman Klotz' NAK Productions filming segments for Public Broadcasting Station WETA, and with Gardy-McGrath International.
In the 1980s, Jim joined a fledgling Christian Performing Artists Fellowship led by Patrick Kavanaugh, to share the love of Christ through the arts. With CPAF, he conducted rehearsals for The Asaph Ensemble choir and served as tenor soloist in oratorios ranging from Handel's Messiah to Mozart's Requiem at the Kennedy Center, Constitution Hall and National Presbyterian Church. In 1992, he and his sister Susan (then a soprano in The Asaph Ensemble chorus) traveled with CPAF and famed Bass Jerome Hines to Moscow to present Hines' opera,
I Am the Way, at the Bolshoi. The opera depicted the life and resurrection of Christ. In the evenings, after rehearsals, members of the chorus sang hymns in Moscow's subway stations and shared Russian- and English-language Bibles with those who stopped to listen.
Back home, Jim began to sing regularly in Catholic churches with Organist Paul Bender, first at Saint Lawrence in Springfield and then as cantor at Saint Catherine of Siena in Great Falls. When Organist David B. Lang succeeded Paul Bender at Saint Catherine, Jim continued as cantor and the two developed a friendship forged by a love of music and similar childhoods.
That friendship grew to encompass David's partner, Jemal, as well as Carolyn and other Meeks family members. It also led to other treasured experiences. When David moved on to Saint John the Beloved Catholic Church and then to Saint Dunstan's Episcopal Church, so did Jim, serving as cantor in both McLean churches.
In 2009, Jim and Susan joined The Reston Chorale when David Lang became artistic director. Being part of this ensemble was a joy. One of Jim's favorite performances with the Chorale was Donald McCullough's The Essential Life, which was commissioned by The Reston Chorale to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Reston and the 100th birthday of its founder, Robert E. Simon Jr. (As a high school student, Jim sang in the first Reston Music Camp, part of Bob Simon's vision to instill arts as a vital part of the community.)
In recent years, kidney failure took a toll on Jim's body, but couldn't diminish the love he shared with friends and family, or the love he feels for Christ.
Eventually, his deteriorating health robbed Jim (and us) of his ability to sing. But in the hours before he went to Heaven, he serenaded Carolyn and his grandson Gabe with a Louis Armstrong song.
His favorite song -the one he always played when at Silver Diner-was Louis Armstrong singing "What a Wonderful World." But on Monday, he sang, "When You're Smiling (the Whole World Smiles with You)." There was clearly a message in that choice:
Oh, when you're smilin'
When you're smilin'
The whole world smiles with you, baby
Yes, when you're laughin'
Oh, when you're laughin'
The sun comes shinin' through
But when you're cryin'
You bring on the rain
So stop your sighin', baby
And be happy again
Yes, and keep on smilin'
Keep on smilin', baby
And the whole world smiles with you
Those of us who love Jim have a fair amount of rain coming our way in the days and weeks ahead, but eventually the sun will shine through again. Because we have a lifetime of wonderful memories to smile - and laugh-about until we see him again. And through Christ, we know that will happen.
Until then, sing on Jim. Sing on.