James Stubbs

James Stubbs

CHAFFEE, Mo. — James M. Stubbs, 81, of Chaffee passed away Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

He was born July 14, 1927, in East St. Louis, Ill., to the late Clyde and Ruth Wilson Stubbs.

Jim was accepted as a 6-year-old patient due to the efforts of Eleanor Roosevelt to the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation. He was one of the three original poster children for the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation for polio. For the next four years, starting in 1934, the picture of the three boys was used to raise money for polio.

He and Marlene Mirly were married Feb. 14, 1948.

Jim attended St. Paul Lutheran Church in Chaffee. He owned and operated Stubbs Jewelry more than 50 years and was the official watch inspector for the River Division of Frisco Railway Co.

He was a longtime Chaffee Rotary Club member and became a Paul Harris Fellow. He was an adult leader of area Boy Scouts and completed wood badge training at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. Jim served on the police board seven years and was a member of the original Chaffee Housing Authority Board of Directors.

His hobbies included fishing, hunting, muzzle-loading firearms, rock hounding and lapidary. He was an active woodcarver in the Cape Girardeau Carving Club. Jim and Marlene enjoyed traveling and attending 49 Elder Hostel programs.

Survivors include his wife; two sons and daughters-in-law, James M. and Jean Stubbs Jr. of Lee's Summit, Mo., Steve and Alisa Stubbs of Champaign, Ill.; a daughter and son-in-law, Melinda and Lance LeFevre of Lee's Summit; five grandchildren, Kristen Stubbs and husband Colin McMillen of Pittsburgh, David LeFevre and fiancee Kindra Gruetlich of Kansas City, Mo., Kaci Stubbs of Portland, Ore., Eric LeFevre and Melissa LeFevre of Lee's Summit.

He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers.

Friends may call after 4 p.m. today at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee.

The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Chaffee, with the Rev. G.R. Hoffstetter officiating. Burial will be in Union Park Cemetery in Chaffee.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Saxony Lutheran High School or Georgia Warm Springs Foundation.