James Workapick

James Walter Workapick: 5/29/1921 to 3/18/2017

What a man. He was tough as a dodge truck and could tear into you with a tongue lashing that you’d never forget. But he also cried during sad movies and hated to see an animal chained up or abused. He was in and out of orphanages and raised rough during the Great Depression. His friends knew him as Jim. He lied about his age and joined the National Guard in 1938. Then he was a member of the Civilian Conservation Corp in Norris Tennessee until joining the Army in 1940. Jim was at Pearl Harbor on 12/7/1941. He never forgot and grieved until he died for the friends he lost in WW11. Jim liked to say the only heroes in that war were the ones that died there. He honored his country and his flag until the day he died at 95.9 years old.

We can’t say that he went peacefully. Jim Workapick didn’t do anything in a peaceful manner. He went through life like a bull in a china shop and was as subtle as a five alarm fire. But he was ours and we loved him. Jim demanded respect and got it. He worked at K-25 in Oak Ridge for 39 years as a carpenter. His best friend, Preacher Lee, said everyone was afraid to work with Jim because he brooked no nonsense and had a temper that would scald the skin off of you if you crossed him. He and his wife, Frances, have five children, fifteen grandchildren and thirty five greats and great greats spread across East Tennessee and beyond. In spite of not having a father to show him how to be a good husband and father, he managed to provide us with food, water, shelter and protection. I’d like to add that he was a boisterous prankster and we were rarely bored.

While Jim’s service is private, we’d like for you to honor him by taking a walk in the woods and enjoying the wonders Mother Nature has offered us. He loved his “little woman”, his kids, cars, food, cards and a good stiff drink of liquor. Godspeed Jim Workapick.