COL JAMES D TIREY To TAPS

James Douglass Tirey, 74, went to be with the Lord on Friday, February 8, 2019 in Indianapolis, IN after living a well rounded life of serving his family, his friends and neighbors, strangers, his country and his God.

 

Jim was born on September 15th, 1944 in Columbus, GA to James and Helen Tirey.  He was a distinguished military graduate from Indiana University where he received his Bachelors degree in accounting.  Within the span of three days in June 1967, he married his wife of 51 years, Judy Lowe Tirey of Corydon, IN, graduated from Indiana University, and was commissioned into the Army as a Second Lieutenant.  In 1968, he became an Army Ranger and served a year in Vietnam, ultimately earning the rank of Colonel while serving his country for 30 years.  Jim finished his working career as a GS-15 with the Department of Finance Accounting Services at Ft. Benjamin Harrison.  He also earned his Masters Degree from Butler University.

 

We could make a long list of Jim’s awards and accomplishments, but that would not be Jim’s nature.  Instead we’d like to honor him by sharing some of his unique gifts as a husband, father, papaw, and friend.  Jim and Judy were blessed with two wonderful sons, Jeff and Mark.  The Tirey household was overrun with hundreds of golf balls, many baseballs and basketballs.  Jim spent countless hours teaching his family to play his beloved game of golf, resulting in many wonderful times shared as a family on golf courses.  Even as a man who played a mean game of golf, resulting in having once scored a hole in one at The Fort at Fort Ben Harrison, he spent most of his time in the woods finding the balls that his friends or family hit.  His ball was generally in the fairway, but he loved serving others and finding golf balls.  Always a wonderful dad, he threw hundreds of baseballs to his boys and shot countless buckets in the driveway with his boys.  About the only thing that took almost as much of his free time was talking and watching IU basketball.

 

Few people know that he wrote funny and beautiful poetry to his wife.  Throughout college and even after many years of marriage, the poems continued.  Jim loved music and dancing. Almost every weekend for four years at IU, Jim and Judy danced.  The memory of dancing never left him and they danced together just a month before he went to be with the Lord.

 

Running became a passion for Jim.  He ran many Mini-Marathons in Indianapolis, frequently placing in his age group, along with two marathons. For several years, he ran 6 miles a day with friends on his lunch hour.  The camaraderie with friends was more important than the running.  The only exception was when he did the physical training test with his soldiers, and then finishing first was of the upmost importance because he was the “old guy”.  Still, they called him a soldier’s officer, and in later years he referred to himself as “an old soldier”.

 

Jim loved to tease everyone, particularly his grandchildren.  His wonderful smile will be missed.

 

People were more important to Jim than status or material things.  He mowed the lawn of an elderly neighbor and brought her mail to her daily.  Visiting with elderly neighbors who were alone was important to him because he was empathetic, genuinely cared, and didn’t want them to be lonely.  He was never too busy to listen or counsel friends, family or coworkers.

 

The world was a better place because of Jim and we will miss him tremendously.  However, together we have been experiencing the “long goodbye” and are now celebrating that our strong, steady, intelligent loved one is whole again in a much better place.  We rejoice in this, even though it’s painful.

 

Loved ones who will miss Jim until they meet again are his wife, Judy, his son and daughter-in-law, Mark and Cindy Tirey of Bloomington, sister and brother-in-law, Barbara and Jim Oswald of Mitchell, four beautiful grandchildren – Aleksander, Samuel, Clara Jane and Wesley, as well as many nieces and nephews.

 

Loved ones who went before Jim are his parents, James and Helen Tirey, his brother, Donald Tirey, twin infant sons, and his eldest son, Jeffrey.

 

A celebration of life will be held Saturday, February 16th at 12:00 noon at Evangelical Community Church, 503 South High Street, Bloomington, IN 47401. Dress is casual and a meal will be provided.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jim’s honor and memory to The Alzheimer’s Association.

 

All of the Tirey family would like to thank the doctors, nurses and staff at Eskenazi Hospital.  They were a life raft during a very difficult time.  Thank you to all the friends, family and caregivers who prayed, served, and walked with us on the long journey of Alzheimer’s.