James Robert Stafford

James Robert Stafford passed away on January 19th, 2021 in Austin, Texas at the age of 95. Jim was dearly loved by his son Donald Stafford and Luce, his daughter Sharon and her husband Michael Lavery, his grandchildren James Lavery, Ryan Lavery, and Greg Stafford, his grandchildren by Michael's previous marriage Keri Sterin, Eric Lavery and great-granddaughters Summer and Riley Lavery, and his dear friend Bonnie. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Louise Buchter and his nephews, Jerry and Larry Stark. He was preceded in death by the love of his life and wife of 59 years, Dorothy, his mom and dad Clarence and Nadine Stafford, sister Betty Jo Chovenetz, brother Bill Stafford, and nephews Mike Stafford and Kenny Ray Chovenetz.

Jim joined the Navy, in August of 1943 at the age of 17. They put him on a train in Dallas, Texas and took him to San Diego, California where they put him on a ship bound for New Hebrides in the South Pacific. He would later visit the Solomon Islands, the Mariana Islands, mainland Japan, and Hawaii before returning to the United States after the war. He was discharged in March of 1946. He met "Dot" in Dallas and they eloped and were married in August of 1947. He joined the IRS soon after that and finally had me in October of 1954, followed by Sharon in May of 1957. We moved from Dallas to Austin in 1963 when the IRS opened the Service Center on Ben White and IH35. He was a Branch manager there until he retired in 1980, so when he passed he had been retired longer than he worked and he was really good at both.

He loved fishing and shooting bullfrogs and squirrels and raising chickens and taking really good care of his family. In 1976 he bought an 88 acre ranch near San Saba, with a loan from the Texas Veterans Land Board, for $125 an acre. With stock tanks loaded with catfish and bass all of our friends and family really enjoyed our trips to the ranch. He raised some stinky goats and a few cattle there and really enjoyed it. He loved to square dance and he and my mom did that until she passed in 2006. He later met his friend Bonnie square dancing and they took trips together and enjoyed each others company.

My father was a very generous man and taught others to be generous. He was a Sunday school teacher and a camp counselor at John Knox Ranch, a Presbyterian youth camp near Wimberly. They called him "Jungle Jim" and they were all very fond of him. He was kind and gentle and everyone who knew him loved him. He will leave a big hole in many peoples lives. I guess his biggest joy, other than family, was gardening. When we first moved to Austin he had the builder scrape out a 20 foot wide garden the length of the entire backyard. He grew everything you could think of, but his favorites, because they were my mothers favorites, were his tomatoes, green beans, and okra. I'm still trying to grow tomatoes but my thumb's not as green as his. In the early years, he would go out to a turkey farm and gather up a pickup load of manure mixed with sawdust to fertilize his garden and "whew" that stuff was good.

A visitation for him will take place at Cook Walden Funeral Home at 6300 William Cannon Drive on Monday, January 25th from 5 to 7 PM. The family will have a private graveside service on Tuesday morning officiated by Reverend Enid Ross. In lieu of flowers, donation may be made to Faith Presbyterian Church on East Oltorf, where dad was a lifelong member.