James Donald Linger 1933-2010 Obituary
James Donald Linger, age 76, of French Creek, WV died Monday, February 8, 2010 at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, WV.
He was born July 28, 1933 in Frenchton, WV, a son of the late Jason Farrell and Elba Ora Queen Linger.
On December 20, 1958 he married Carol Jean Fitzgerald who survives.
Also surviving are two sons, William James Linger of Frenchton and Larry Gene Linger and wife Jodie of Fairmont, WV; one granddaughter, Kathryn Rose Linger of Frankfort, IN; two grandsons, Morgan Garrett Linger and Conner Wade Linger both of Fairmont, WV; several nieces and nephews, a mother in law, Ruby Davis of Buckhannon.
In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by three brothers. Mr. Linger was a Sales Clerk for Strader’s Dept. Store.
He was a member of the Frenchton United Methodist Church, the Rock Cave Lodge # 81 AF & AM and the Aletha Chapter # 82 Order Of Eastern Star.
Friends will be received at the Poling-st. Clair Funeral Home on Thursday, February 11, 2010 from 5-7 PM with memorial services at 7 PM with the Rev. Dan Lowther officiating.
The Rock Cave Masonic Lodge # 81 and Aletha Chapter # 82 will conduct services.
Poling-st. Clair Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Jim attended Greenbrier Military School and graduated from Charleston (WV) High School in 1944.
While in the US Navy he studied at the University of Mississippi. After deciding to enter the ministry, he graduated cum laude in 1948 from West Virginia Wesleyan College with a B.A. in English, and also ministered to a circuit of southern Upshur County churches.
In 1951 he earned a Masters of Divinity at Garrett Theological Seminary in Chicago and did post graduate work at the University of Illinois. Following seminary, Jim entered the ministry with the Methodist Church but soon found himself called in a different direction.
From 1953-54 he was YMCA Program Secretary in Spray, NC. In 1954 he returned to his alma mater at WVWC, where he served as Director of Alumni Affairs, Assistant to the President, Director of the Campus Community Center and Campus Coordinator, and other positions through 1978.
After leaving Wesleyan, Jim was Coordinator of Special Services at Goodwill Industries of Houston Texas from 1978-79. As a fundraising consultant, he was with Ward Dreshman and Reinhardt from 1979-81 in Miami, FL and United Church of Christ in St. Louis 1981-83, but maintained his home in Upshur County.
Concurrently, he turned his lifelong interest in photography into a passion, learning to develop, print, and enlarge his own images in a darkroom he built himself.
Calling it the Stone Cellar Darkroom, he taught photography classes, held 30 one-person exhibits, and placed in several group art shows with his barn and landscapes through 2000.
One highlight of this time was when his photographs of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis were displayed at its visitor center for its 25th anniversary in 1990. Jim sold his barn and landscape pictures to people all over the country.Known for his warmth, charm, humor, intellect, sincerity, and wide range of interests, Jim was devoted to his family and made friends everywhere. Jim loved to travel and maintained a wide circle of close friends and relatives from coast to coast and overseas through frequent visits, phone calls, and emails.
A number of these special people attended Jim’s 80th birthday party March 31, 2007 at First United Methodist Church. He was very active until recently with organizations, particularly the Association of College Unions International and West Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Jim was a lifelong do-it-yourselfer and nail bender extraordinaire. Highlights included falling off a second story roof and only breaking a few boards (which he saved as proof), starting a fire in his shop by spontaneous combustion, and installing a steel ladder for Santa Claus in his chimney.
On one of Jim’s frequent trips to Home Hardware he would appear to be removing his pants at the cash register, because he had pulled clean trousers over the dirty work pants containing his wallet.
In restoring his 100 year old farm house, he built-in cabinets, bookshelves, a triple-decker bunk bed, and a telephone booth, and made furniture from reclaimed wormy chestnut.
The family wishes to thank Serenity Care Home for their loving and expert care. Friends will be received Friday, February 10, 2010 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Poling St. Clair Funeral Home.
On Saturday February 13, Jim will be lying in state from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. at First United Methodist Church in Buckhannon.
The funeral service will follow at 11:00 a.m. at the church with the Rev. Damon Rhodes officiating.
A graveside service for family only will follow at the family graveyard on Hickory Flat Road.
James Donald Linger 1933-2010 Obituary
