| EULOGY
James Paul Folkes died on February 21, 2007
He was born November 5, 1935
to Dewey Paul and Dallas Kay Glass Folkes. After graduating high school, he went
to work for Texas Instruments and began pursuing his dream of flying. He
achieved his private (single engine land) certificate before joining the U.S.
Air Force in 1958. He was unable pursue his love of flying because of Air Force
vision requirements. In the service, he worked as a jet engine mechanic on the
U2 spy plane at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas. In July 1960, he
married Carolyn Kay Boulmay and in December 1961, his first son,
Ronald Paul was
born. After his discharge from the Air Force in 1962, he returned to the Dallas
area with his family and resumed work at Texas Instruments. He soon returned to
his flight training and achieved his instrument, commercial, multi-engine,
flight instructor, ground instructor and advanced ground instructor ratings. He
then worked as a flight instructor for five years at Addison Airport. In March
1966 his second son, Thomas James was born.
After leaving aviation, he
held several jobs where he applied his talents as a mechanic. In retirement, he
pursued his passion for restoring and driving 50’s Ford cars.
Having shared this with you
I want to convey the Jimmy I grew up with and knew these many years. He was an
inventive and resourceful person even as a boy. This was demonstrated by a well
tuned bicycle, a converted chicken house that became a club house for early teen
friends and later an early 40’s Ford car that needed his mechanical and
resourceful skills to keep running after use by a teen age boy (or sometimes
hard driving). James, even in the early years, was always willing to help others
especially where he could apply his mechanical abilities and skills. He had a
love for baseball that began on the sandlot field, high school field and Little
League when Ronnie and Tommy were of age to play. He was a good catcher as a
player and a good coach in Little League. Many boys he coached learned the
fundamentals and passion for the game along with a healthy dose of what is
needed to be a good citizen and person in life. He became an even closer friend
to me in the last 20 years or so. He was always available when I was in need of
assistance or a friend.
Jim loved his country and he
was very proud to be a Texan. He was a good, kind, honest man. Jim will be
missed deeply by family and friends.
This eulogy was read at James' service by Charles
Lovelace (one of his CHS classmates). The family opted to not list an
obituary in the paper.
Submitted by
Frank Gravley |
Carrollton-Farmers
Branch TXGenWeb