James Jim Caruthers, Jr.

After 73 years, the Lord called Jim Caruthers for his tee time in Heaven on Tuesday, August 5, 2008, and Jim joined Him on the green. Funeral services will be held on Friday, August 8, 2008 at a 2:00 p.m. service in La Chapelle de Martin & Castille in Lafayette, LA for James ""Jim"" Caruthers, Jr., who passed away peacefully at Lafayette General Medical Center.

Visitation at Navarre Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Baytown Saturday, August 9, 2008 from 9:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. Graveside services will follow at 10:30 a.m. in Memory Gardens Cemetery in Baytown with Rev. Jerry Lyons of Second Baptist Church officiating.

Jim was born on October 3, 1934, to the union of Alice Betty McMichael and James Ervin Caruthers, Sr., in Goose Creek, Texas, which would later be known as Baytown. He was reared there, and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1952. He attended and graduated from Lee Jr. College in Baytown in 1954, and joined the United States Army. He was honorably discharged in 1957 as a Specialist First Class. Jim returned to college, graduating in 1958 from Sam Houston State University with a B.B.A. in Accounting. He completed the work for an MBA at Sam Houston in 1961.

Jim worked in the oil business throughout his professional career, which brought the family to Lafayette in 1983 when he joined Kerr-McGee Corp. He concluded his career with Pioneer Natural Resources (formerly Mesa Petroleum Corp.) and retired in 2005. Jim and Jean's many friends, and Jim's avid interest in golf and hunting, made his time in Lafayette the best of his life. Jim and Jean are founding members of Trinity Presbyterian Church of Lafayette, and the family has taken great comfort in the many prayers and enduring faith of their church family and friends.

Jim is survived by his loving wife of 48 years, Hattie Jean Standefer Caruthers of Lafayette; by their three children, Julie Caruthers Parsley and her husband, Lee Parsley, of Austin, Texas, Jeffrey Guy Caruthers of Houston, Texas, and James Britton Caruthers and his wife, Lisa Thompson Caruthers, of Houston; two grandchildren, Catherine Caruthers Parsley and William Standefer Newman Parsley of Austin; his sister, Mary Lou Caruthers Simmons Davis and her husband, Neil Davis, of Alvin, Texas; two nephews, Michael Simmons and David Simmons and his wife, Eva, all of Houston; his mother-in-law, Mae Jarrell Standefer of Baytown, Texas; and his sister-in-law, Kathy Standefer Adams and her husband, John Q. Adams, of Baytown.

He was preceded in death by his father, James E. Caruthers, Sr.; his mother, Alice Betty Bagwell; and his step-father, Paul Bagwell.

Serving as pallbearers will be Lee Parsley, William Parsley, Bart Standefer, Jason Williams, Duane Beair and Terry Gesford.

The family would like to give special thanks to the team of doctors who provided such excellent care for Jim, namely Dr. Gary Guidry, Dr. Juan Perez, Dr. Philip Gachassin, and Dr. Richard Broussard, and to the excellent staff of nurses at Lafayette General Medical Center ICU, especially Terry Ledet, Jeanne Sonnier, Andrea Faircloth, and Ashley Sinitere who provided him with such loving care.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jim's memory to the Presbyterian Children's Home, P.O. Box 140888, Austin, Texas 78714, or to the American Heart Association, 312 Guilbeau Road, Suite C, Lafayette, Louisiana 70506.

Local arrangements are under the direction of Navarre Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 2444 Rollingbrook Dr., Baytown, TX, 77521 (281) 422-8111.