James William Clouse's Obituary
James William “Jim” Clouse, 79, of Gainesville, FL, passed away Tuesday, February 4, 2025. He was born on February 15, 1945 in Madison County, NC, the son of the late Willie Kate “Bill” Clouse and Sara “Ruby” Higgins Clouse of Holcombe Branch Road.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years Mary Emma Edwards Clouse; daughters, Aleesa Daniele (Todd Williams), Jamie Marlena (Fred Barnard); sisters, Lorena Boone (David) and Donna Garrison (Edward Connelly); nieces, Katlyn Fox (Garrett), and Emily Ann Greene Bailey (Lee); nephews, Willam David “Bill” Boone (Pam), and Nathan Garrison; and beloved brother-in-law Terry Garrison (Kay), who occupied a ‘special’ place in his heart because of his ability to “make it happen” . The smile on his face nor the ‘twinkle’ in his eye could be measured when great nephew James Henry Fox, and great nieces Lorena Claire Boone and Grayson Rylee Lentz-Garrison joined the family. Watching them grow and experience new places and activities was a bright spot to many of his days.,
Jim was a loving son, brother, brother-in-law, father, uncle, and great uncle who married the young woman of his dreams Mary Emma Edwards on June 26, 1965. After graduating from Mars Hill High School in 1963 these sweethearts attended Berea College (Berea, KY) before getting married and graduating from Mars Hill College (Mars Hill, NC) in 1967. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, he worked in Asheville City and Buncombe County school districts as a Mathematics teacher and Driver’s Ed instructor until 1976, when a chance encounter at a football game opened the door to his career in agricultural lending.
He began his professional banking career, which combined his talent for “crunching” numbers and his heritage of growing up on a small mountain tobacco farm, with The Farm Credit System in Burnsville, NC as branch manager and loan officer. This led to a long and successful career all around the Southeast from the family Christmas tree farms of Western North Carolina to the sprawling pecan, soybean, and cotton farms of Georgia and South Carolina, and culminating before his retirement in 2004 as Executive Vice President/Chief Lending Officer of Farm Credit of North Florida, ACA.
Jim enjoyed many hobbies associated with researching, restoring, and collecting antique implements, knives, and tractors. Spending many hours restoring them to mint condition. Turning the old and forgotten instruments and ornaments of the past into something useful that could spark a story was his passion during his retirement. Jim was an excellent storyteller, and his family often enjoyed sitting with him while he recanted in detail the adventures of his boyhood and his early life in Madison County, NC.
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