Carl James Layden Jr.

C. James Layden Jr., age 81, of Tuscaloosa, died Dec. 23, 2011, at DCH Regional Medical Center. Private family memorial services will be held with Sunset Funeral Home, a Dignity Memorial Provider, in charge of arrangements.

Survivors include his wife, Helen Layden of Tuscaloosa; his daughters, Lisa Layden Thacker (Ben) of Beaumont, Texas and Laura Layden Stager (Jeff) of Dallas, Texas; his sons, J. Martin Layden (Anne Marie) of Milan, Ind. and J. Michael Layden (Lori) of Tuscaloosa; and eight grandchildren.

C. James “Jim” Layden Jr. was born November 29, 1930, in Aurora, Ill. He graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. His time at DePauw was interrupted by several years of service in the U.S. Army. He started working for Republic Steel in 1955 and retired from the steel industry as Commercial Vice President of Tuscaloosa Steel in 1995.

On September 15, 1955, he married the love of his life, Helen Maria Locke, and they had four children, Lisa, Marty, Michael, and Laura. His devotion to his wife and family was the overarching element in his life. An avid golfer and sports fan, Jim was also passionate about education, music, and his country. He taught his children to honor other people and their property, to have a high level of self-esteem but remain humble, to strive to contribute more than 100% effort to each endeavor and shun any special acclaim received because of it, to seek the positive aspect of every situation, and mostly to remember who they are, where they came from, and who he taught them to be. These words of Winston Churchill echo his philosophy: “Never, ever give up.”