James “Jim” Care passed away, peacefully in his sleep in the early morning hours of July 23, 2022, in Winchester, VA, where he was currently residing in memory care wing of Hilltop House. He was born, the youngest of seven, to Sarah and Edward Care on February 19th, 1935, in Lebanon, Pa. James is survivedContinue Reading
James “Jim” Care passed away, peacefully in his sleep in the early morning hours of July 23, 2022, in Winchester, VA, where he was currently residing in memory care wing of Hilltop House. He was born, the youngest of seven, to Sarah and Edward Care on February 19th, 1935, in Lebanon, Pa. James is survived by his loving wife Rita and his two sons Jeffrey (Sherry) and Gregory (Robin), grandson Matthew (Lindsay), and three great-grandchildren Adisyn, Bellamy, and Callum.
Jim had a distinguished career with the Department of Defense, retiring from the Navy in 2003 in Mount Pleasant, SC where he had, until recently, lived with his wife and dogs for the previous 27 years. Before moving to South Carolina, Jim and his family were original homeowners in Sterling Park, VA from 1965 until moving to Mount Pleasant in 1995.
A natural leader, Jim tended to rise to the top of the many support organizations He was involved in: The Sterling Area Citizens Association, The Sully Elementary PTA, the Loudoun County, VA Planning Commission, the Sterling Community Center Advisory Board, The Park View High School Band Aides, and most recently in Mount Pleasant, SC, the Longpoint HOA.
Jim was an avid fan of the Boston Celtics and the Washington Redskins and carried his love of the game of football into the community as a Virginia High School League football official, working little league games and high school games throughout the Northern Virginia area.
Solving problems by puzzling out plans on napkins over dinner, Jim was a consummate DIY enthusiast. He designed and built many things. He built simple, elegant furniture for his family’s first home, bunk beds and desks for his home in Sterling Park. He created the first computer network to manage class enrolment for the multiple sites of the Sterling Community Centers. In the mid 70’s, Jim supported a love for camping and the outdoors by converting a newly purchased Ford van into a camper. He designed a removable bunk bed/storage bench system and a matching chuck wagon style kitchen box. That van carried his family to Disney World and across the country to the Grand Canyon, exploring about half the states in the US.
Jim would be called a maker in current vernacular. Using his electronics skills, soldering each resistor and capacitor by hand, he built his family’s first color TV, a kit from Heathkit. He built a stereo tuner-amplifier, many PC computer systems from components he carefully selected himself. Jim was more than a ‘shade-tree’ mechanic, rebuilding clutches, brakes and even replacing engines when needed. Jim’s neighbors were family, and neighborhood kids knew where to take a bike with flat tire or rusty chain in need of oil: Mr. Jim’s Garage. With two boys in Cub Scouts, the Care boys had the best Pinewood Derby cars in Pack 1157, winning many ribbons. Second place was not an option.
Jim had several ‘children’ not mentioned above. Sargey, Charley, Barney, Jenny, Max and Sam. These are, of course, Mr. Jim’s dogs. A house was not a home unless there was a dog in it. His love for his dogs was unmatched. The memorial garden he made for Jenny and the many photographs of his dogs, past and present, throughout his home make this clear.
Art was important to Jim, both music and visual art. There was always music playing in the Care home, and Jim was a supporting member of Wolf Trap, where the family attended many concerts. Jim built and extensive record and cd collection and enjoyed exploring new artists with his son Jeff, an experienced guitar player who played with local theater groups and currently plays with church praise bands in several churches in FL. Jim had an interest in photography that started during his time in the Navy. He passed that passion on to his son Gregory, who was a photojournalist, and still loves to photograph portraits, weddings, and nature.
Please join Jim’s friends and family at a service remembering his life and those lives he touched on Friday, September 16th at Omps Funeral Home, 1600 Amherst Street, Winchester VA 22601. The doors will be open at 2pm, with military honors starting at 2:30 pm. There will be light food and drinks provided with the visitation ending at 4pm.
In lieu of flowers, we encourage those who wish to please make a donation in his name, in food, supplies, or money, to the local animal charity of your choice. This will honor his love of the animals in his life from his pet dogs to the scores of mice and possums he humanely trapped and relocated.
Please visit obituaries and tribute wall to ompsfuneralhome.com
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