James Thomas Shirley Jr. (Jim), 88 years of age, of Austin, TX, passed away on March 31, 2020, peacefully in his home. Jim always said he wanted to live long enough to “make it to his jersey number, 88,” and he did.
Jim was born to Nancy Dodds Shirley and James Thomas Shirley, Sr., on April 16, 1931, in Seneca, South Carolina. He attended High School at Seneca High, where he was President of his senior class. Jim went on to attend Clemson University, where he studied Agriculture and played fullback for the Tigers under legendary football coach Frank Howard. During his Clemson football career, Jim played in the 1950 Orange Bowl and the 1951 Gator Bowl. After serving in the US Army, Jim spent three years trying his hand at pro-football, drafted in 1953 by the Chicago Bears, where he played for the legendary George (Papa Bear) Halas, and a brief time with the Toronto Argonauts. When discussing his decision to retire from football, Jim often recounted what the great coach Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns told him, ‘you can play somewhere in this league, but it’s not really worth it unless you can play anywhere.’
Jim was briefly the athletic director at the South Carolina State Penitentiary before finding his way into a lifelong career in the golf industry. His golf career ranged from PGA Pro, golf course construction, design, consulting, and club management. Through the course of his career, he worked with architects such as Ellis Maples, Robert Von Hagge, Byron Nelson, and Joe Finger, among others, on PGA Tournament courses such as Atlanta Country Club, Atlanta Athletic Club, and Colonial Country Club in Memphis, TN. After supervising the reconstruction of River Hill Country Club in Kerrville, TX, Jim stayed on as General Manager for five years. Jim spent the last twenty-five years of his golf career in Europe, designing and building courses in France, Italy, and Denmark. The majority of his time spent supervising the construction and general management of Les Bordes County Club in the Loire Valley, France, at the time, consider the preeminent golf course in all of Europe.
One little known chapter in Jim’s life was that he and his wife June flew to New York City to be married on one of the countries’ first reality TV shows, Bride and Groom, 1951. Jim and June were proudly liberal southerners who raised their children to be truly color blind.
Jim is survived by his three children, James Thomas Shirley, the 3rd (Chip), Audrey Baxter, and Steve Shirley, brother Glenn Hollister Shirley, and sister-in-law Donna Shirley. Grandchildren; Natalie Gauldin, Lauren and Justin Bauer, Hayes Shirley, and River Shirley; and great-grandchildren; Caroline Gauldin and Finley Bauer. Jim was very close to his nephew Glenn and his wife Nancy Shirley, and great-niece Emmalee Shirley. Jim was proceeded in death by the mother of his children June Eddins Shirley of Easley, SC, who passed away in 1998.
VIA: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/en-ca/obituaries/austin-tx/james-shirley-9116087
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