James O. Weeks

Weeks, Sr.

1930 - 2012

James Oliver Weeks, Sr., of Pensacola, peacefully passed Tuesday morning, March 6, 2012, in Washington, D.C. at the age of 81.

He was born on April 4, 1930 in Oklahoma City, OK to Seward and Beatrice Weeks and grew up in Texarkana, AR during the height of the Depression.

When he was very young his parents divorced and he would ride the train north to Chicago to visit his father who was working as a barber in a hotel. Seward would give his ten-year-old son a quarter in the morning before leaving for work and young Jim would use it to buy candy and ride the 'L' all over the city during the day. Occasionally, he would find a back-door to a movie house where he could sneak past the ushers and while away the hours watching Westerns.

It bred a resourceful and independent streak in him that continued when he chose to run away from his boarding school, the Gulf Coast Military Academy in Biloxi, MS, at the age of 16 with a friend. They spent several months hitchhiking, first to New Orleans, and then Texas, earning money along the way as dishwashers in local diners. The adventure came to an end when his friend ran off with their entire savings in a futile attempt to woo a girl he had just met.

Not wanting to return to school, the ever resourceful sixteen year old lied about his age and joined the Navy. This began a twenty year career that took him all over the country from California to Tennessee to North Carolina to Texas and, finally, Pensacola, Florida. The journey was joined in 1950 by the love of his life, Marilyn Fischer, a hometown girl who grew up literally on the other side of the tracks in the Texas portion of Texarkana.

They raised two children together, Rosa and Jo, and spent their fifty-seven year marriage always dancing. They were the Fred and Ginger of the jitterbug. Jim was also active in the Shrine Temple, a member of the Scottish Rite, and spent time at the local Elk's lodge, Navy Lodge #24, and at any establishment in Pensacola that had a pool table. Over the years he won boxes of trophies in local pool tournaments and enjoyed hustling the occasional unsuspecting opponent for a few extra dollars.

In the Navy he came to work in Aviation Training Devices where he trained young aviators on a flight simulator. However, his true claim to fame on the job was his ability to fix about anything. Often, with a minimal amount of work and a great deal of unconventional creativity. After his retirement from the Navy in 1966 he continued on for another twenty years in Civil Service until a second, and final, retirement in 1986.

He spent his retirement continuing to play Mr. Fix-It on his many rental properties, doing charitable work at the Shrine Temple, and continuing to show that he hadn't lost his touch at the pool tables. Though his greatest joy in retirement was traveling the country in three successive RVs with his wife Marilyn and the local NCT and Nomads clubs. They drove up and down the coast of California, saw the leaves change in New England, and, per his wife's insistence, pretty well covered the nation's military exchanges and outlet malls.

Throughout his life his greatest service was done for his family. He taught his children and grandchildren to play chess, to sail, to learn how to tell a good joke and, during hard times, how to survive.

He is survived by his daughter, Rosa Weeks; his granddaughter, Kimberly Fischer and her husband, John Stemen; his grandsons, James Oliver Weeks, III and Jason Moring; and his great-granddaughter, Emelyn Stemen.

A viewing will be held at Oak Lawn Funeral Home, 619 New Warrington Road, from 5 to 7 pm on Sunday, March 11. The funeral service will be held at the Little Chapel on NAS Pensacola at 9:30 am, Monday, March 12, with a burial to follow at 10:15 am at Barrancas National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to the Pensacola Hadji Shrine Temple or a charity of your choice .

Arrangements under the direction of Oak Lawn Funeral Home, Pensacola, FL.