Sidney James Avery Jr.

A celebration of life will be held Saturday, February 3. Visitation will be between Noon and 2PM followed by a Funeral Service from 2:00 – 3:00PM. Burial will follow the service. The location is the Palm Eastern Mortuary, 7600 S Eastern Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89123.

Jimmy was born May 1, 1933 in Paterson, New Jersey to Sidney and Damicella Avery. He graduated from St. John High School in 1950. After an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army he began working with his father and brothers at the Avery Shirt Company in Paterson, NJ. Jimmy loved designing shirts and making trips into NY City to sell to the men’s stores on 5th Avenue.

This career led him to Las Vegas in the late 60’s, bringing along custom made shirts for the boys. We’ll let you guess who the boys were. After time he loved the valley so much they closed the shirt company and relocated his family to Las Vegas in 1978. With new opportunities ahead, Jimmy worked for Circus Circus as a dealer and naturally had to work at Mr B’s, a fine clothing store for men.

So what opportunity could be next? Around 1984, Jim opened Jersey Dogs on Eastern Ave. Jimmy had the best chili recipe in the valley and it went great with the dogs.

As folklore has it, one morning, while eating a Jersey Dog, Jim read in the classified section a job of salesmen at Sylvan Pools. This intrigued him and he went and applied. He was hired and was sent off to school in Arizona to learn about selling pools. In his first year he was the #2 salesman in the country. Naturally in his second year he was the #1 salesman in the country with over 220 pools in the ground.

From there he partnered and opened Award Pools, in Henderson. His calling card was “Designs by Jay”. The Homeowners Friend. After a successful venture at Award Pools he worked with Water Creations, again designing award winning pools and spas. His love of the pool business kept him going, never wanting to retire.

Jimmy loved almost every sport but couldn’t wait for football season to start. Halftime bets were his favorites. And a little on-line poker topped it off.

Jimmy is survived by his wife, Sonia Avery; two sons, James and Mark; and three daughters, Diana, Sonia Lisa and Sofia. He has five grandchildren, Justin, Jake, Megan, Joe and Jaylyn.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Shriners Hospitals for Children or The Animal Foundation at 655 N. Mojave Road in Las Vegas.