James R. May

James R. May , 85 of Lizton, Indiana, passed away peacefully at his home, December 26, 2023.

Funeral Services with Masonic Honors will be held at 1 pm, Tuesday, January 2, 2024, in the Eric MD Bell Funeral Home, where all are invited to gather with the family from 11 am until the time of the funeral service.

He will be laid to rest with Military Honors at a later date in the Lizton K of P Cemtery.

Below is a life story shared by his loving family:

James Richard May was born July 17th 1938 to Ethel Delores (Weir) May and James Marshall May in Indianapolis Indiana. His first words were dada. He was always close with animals, when he was young he had a chow that only let him pet her pups. He grew up in Indianapolis where he participated in 4H and attended Indianapolis public school then Ben Davis high school. From age 10 through college he worked with his dad, uncle Charlie and cousin Joe at filling stations on the west side of Indianapolis, he said he felt especially close to his dad during this time plus it was good being the bosses son. After graduation he attended Purdue University where he got a BS in Agriculture. He then joined the army, became a Sargent and worked in intelligence. During his military service he was in Germany where he acquired a beautiful collection of beer steins. He said he stayed an extra few months because he enjoyed it so much. After the being honorably discharged from his military service he came home and began working at the station but then soon began an engineer for stoakly vancamp for a year or two. Then he worked for Indiana Bell and stayed with the company when ameritech merged southwest bell company (SBC) then when it became at&t. He worked for at&t until his official retirement in 2015. He had a passion for cars whether it be driving a robin egg blue 54 Ford in a snow storm or a Porsche down a winding mountain road in Germany. He was a proud free Mason for 64 years as well as a member of the VFW and the American legion for several years. He met Marlene at stoakly where he was a supervisor and she was a line worker. They settled on a farm in lizton where the barn he built by hand still stands. In 1969 he married Marlene Marie (McClain) May. They built a beautiful family including their children Robert May, Tom May, Charlie May, Jimmy May, Jace Wilson, Jared May, and Bethany May. He was blessed with 17 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. He was a man of many greats who loved and supported those around him. He is beloved by his family and will be dearly missed.