GREENSBORO — There will be a memorial service on Tuesday, January 22 at 11 a.m. at New Garden Friends Meeting. Jim was born in Kannapolis, NC, on April 30, 1932 to the late Fred M. Lomax, Sr. and Charles Jane Redman Lomax.
The Lomax family moved to Greensboro in 1934 following the selection of Fred M. Lomax, Sr., as Chief Deputy to William Dowd, U.S. Marshal for the Middle District of North Carolina. The family moved to the Guilford College community in 1938.
Jim and twin brother John were fortunate to attend Guilford Public School and be taught by excellent teachers in the late 30's and all through the 1940's. They both excelled in football and basketball under coach David Meredith at Guilford High School.
After graduation in 1950, both entered Guilford College but John enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard after the first semester. Jim continued at Guilford and majored in Economics and minored in History. He was active on the Student Affairs board and was elected President of the Senior Class. He received his BA degree in 1954.
Jim attended the UNC School of Law from 1954-55. In November 1955 he was accepted in the Naval Officer Candidate Program and graduated from the Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI in 1956.
Jim had an interesting naval career beginning with service on the USS Brush (DD-745). He later served as a Liaison Officer with the Ninth Marine Amphibious Brigade in Okinawa, the Philippines and Vietnam. Shore assignments included Commanding Officer, U.S. Naval Reserve Center, Honolulu, Hawaii and Staff, U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor. He had recruiting duty in Michigan and New York, where he met Anita Albert, RN, who was a nurse at NYU Medical Center. Jim retired from the U.S. Navy with the rank of Commander in 1983.
Following his Navy career, Jim entered graduate school at UNC-Greensboro. He and Anita had a commuting courtship for three years and were married in Anita's home state of Maine in Portland in August 1986. Anita joined Jim in Greensboro where she was on the nursing staff at Wesley Long Hospital and later a certified case manager with Moses Cone Health System and United Healthcare. Jim was awarded the Master of Arts Degree in History in 1987.
Jim served as a substitute teacher in the Guilford County school system for several years teaching History and Social Studies. He then worked part time for Airport Express until 2001.
Jim attended and was active at New Garden Friends Meeting. He was active with the Guilford College Alumni Association for more than 25 years and served on the Alumni Associations Board of Directors for 6 years. In 2009 Jim was awarded the Alumni Excellence Award by the Association. In his later years Jim was a member of the Guilford College Community Civitan Club. Jim enjoyed traveling with Anita from Maine to Florida, all three coasts and to the Bahamas, Cancun and Canada. They especially enjoyed traveling to Japan while Jim's son, Justin, was teaching English there to meet his fiancée, Mikiko Suzuki and to Hawaii for their wedding. Jim also enjoyed fishing trips to the NC coast with his friend Lawrence Lintz of Madison who later moved to Calabash. Jim and Anita enjoyed visits to Oregon to visit Jim's daughter, Kirsten, in Portland and Jim's son Justin and wife Mikiko and Jim's grandchildren Paul Kaito and Ava Minami in Salem. Jim also enjoyed traveling to Maine to visit Anita's family.
Jim was very grateful to Anita's sister and brother-in-law, Susan and Warren Fleckenstein for their assistance and caregiving to Anita and to Jim. They were kind enough to let Jim walk their little Shi Tzu, "Sophie," on days they worked and every walk with "Sophie" was a happy one for Jim. Jim was preceded in death by his wife, Anita Albert Lomax, his parents and older brothers Fred M. Lomax, Jr. and Harold, twin sisters Betty Jane (Short) and Nettie Lou (Wolfe) and twin brother John. Jim is survived by his daughter, Kirsten Lomax Jenkins of Portland, Oregon, son Justin Boyce Lomax, his wife Mikiko Suzuki Lomax of Salem, Oregon, and grandchildren, Paul Kaito Lomax and Ava Minami Lomax of Salem, Oregon. Other survivors are his mother-in-law, Jeannine Albert of Frenchville, Maine, brothers-in-law Marc Albert of Edmundsten, NB, Canada and Garland Wolfe of Surf City, NC, sisters-in-law Donna Williamson of Scarborough, Maine, Cathie Beaulieu of St. David, Maine, and Susan Fleckenstein of Greensboro, NC. Jim is also survived by many wonderful nephews and nieces and their families and enjoyed seeing them at frequent Lomax family gatherings. He was grateful for their support and caregiving to Anita and to him. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Office of Advancement, Guilford College, 5800 West Friendly Ave., Greensboro NC, 27410 or to New Garden Friends Meeting, 801 New Garden Rd. Greensboro, NC, 27410.
Online condolences may be offered at www.forbisanddick.com