Jim Gephart was born on September 16^th, 1928 in Crawfordsville, Indiana, the third child and 2^nd son to Ernest Leo Gephart, Sr. and Nellie Mae (Brunton) Gephart Graham.   The family moved to Pittsboro, IN and resided there during all of Jim’s formative years in school.   Pittsboro was a very small town in 1928, with a population of 510 residents.  The Gephart family lived in a small house that had electricity.  Despite this modern convenience, Jim recalled that the family often used candles and kerosene lamps, in lieu of the more expensive electrical lighting.  Jim remembers the children carrying apples, potatoes and other food to store in a below ground cellar.  Although they had access to City water, Jim recalls the family opting to use the more inexpensive water pump and well.  He remembers his mom putting a silk pantyhose over the mouth end of the pump to catch any bugs that made it in the water.  Jim attended school in Pittsboro, Indiana from 1934-1946, graduating from Pittsboro High School in 1946.

Leo, Sr. worked a number of jobs, including stints at Mid States Steel & Wire, and Prest-O-Lite Battery Company.  Jim recalls the last job his dad had was as a bus driver.  Jim’s grandparents lived in Browns Valley, IN and his grandfather was a farmer and he also drove a truck that hauled cream to a creamery in Crawfordsville, IN.  The Gephart family was an active family of 7, with Nellie Mae having five children in total, two brothers and two sisters for Jim to learn from and grow up alongside him.  With 5 kids at home, Nellie’s full time job was taking care of the children.  Nellie was the rock that held the family together and she was always very loving and fun to be with.  She loved to sing and Jim loved and learned this passion from his mother and enjoyed it his entire life.

Jim loved and idolized his older brother Leo, Jr., 6 years his senior.  Leo quickly became an older brother than Jim adoringly watched and emulated as he grew from year to year as a young boy.  His playmate was his brother Billy, 2 years older than Jim.  Jim and Leo carefully watched Leo daily and Leo left a lasting positive influence on young Jim.  In addition to Leo and Bill, Jim had 2 sisters, Betty (Feeney) and Judy (Kurtz).  The Gephart boys loved the game of basketball and playing, refereeing, and watching the game became a lifelong passion for Jim.  Jim’s fondest childhood memory was that he scored 14 points in his first game for his Pittsboro 5^th grade team.  He later recalled that he jumped center for his high school basketball team, standing a stout 5’-9 ½”” tall!

Jim felt the sting of Life early, when his older brother Leo died from injuries suffered in a car accident on the night of his senior prom.  This event left an indelible memory for Jim.  The Gephart family held Leo’s viewing in the living room of their modest Pittsboro home.  Jim met the funeral director, Oscar McConnahay and Jim admired the way Oscar conducted the service and comforted the grieving Gephart family and their friends.  Jim later recalled that it was this event and his continuing mentorship from Oscar McConahey that later shaped the direction of his life and his desire to become a funeral director.

Jim’s mother Nellie instilled a foundation of faith and a strong work ethic in the Gephart children.  Jim felt his greatest personality trait was being a kind and understanding person throughout his life.  He felt is was gifted to him by his mother and later enhanced as he learned by watching Oscar McConnahay provide comfort to grieving families.

Jim had many fond memories from his childhood.  His given nickname was “Jake”, which was given to him by his father.  However, the nickname did not stick, as his parents divorced when he was a senior in high school and his nickname went out the door with his father.  Jim remembers learning to drive when he was fourteen year old, with his uncle teaching him how to drive on his huckster truck.  Jim turned a Coke hamper upside down and sat on it so he could drive the truck while his uncle continued to sell egs, meat, cheese, milk, etc. along the roadside while they kept moving.  “Kick the Can” was the favorite neighborhood game of choice and the kids would often play it hours at a time.  Jim’s favorite toy as a child was a wagon that he used to get wherever he was going as well as delivering newspapers from it.  Jim’s favorite song from his childhood was “The Waltz You Saved for Me”, which his uncle, a pianist, would play for him.  Jim’s most vivid memory from his early childhood was a gift he received from his parents- a hand-me-down bike from his older brother.  They had painted it, added a speedometer, a horn, and two headlights.

Growing up, Jim had daily chores of milking the cows in the morning and evening, and in the winter, taking the ashes from the furnace and carrying coal in for the furnace.  Family vacations were spent in Monticello, IN at Lake Shafer.  Sundays were special for the Gephart family, began with church at Pittsboro Methodist Church a few doors down from their house, followed by homemade ice cream and family games at the Gephart house.  Evenings were fun-filled at their house on most nights, with time spent reading, playing cards, and listening to music.

Jim’s summers were spent picking tomatoes and mowing lawns to make money.  He remembers having a race one day with his friends, Bill Bennett and Gene Shelf to see who could pick the most tomatoes.  He won the challenge by picking 102 hampers of tomatoes that day, the most he had ever picked.

After high school, Jim began following his dream of becoming a funeral director and started working at Flanner & Buchanan Funeral Home, initially as a staff assistant and then progressing to a funeral director and embalmer.  From 1950-1953, Jim served our country during the Korean War, serving in Kyoto, Japan and attaining the rank of Master Command Sergeant during his time in the Army.  He received the United Nations Service Medal and the Korean Service Medal during this time as the commanding officer for his 8164^th Army Hospital Unit.  During this time of his life, he met new friends from other parts of the US who were serving in Korea at the same time as Jim.  Jim remained close to his friends in the Army and  had many wonderful reunions and trips with  them later in life.

On April 21, 1951 Jim married his high school sweetheart, Opal Irene Headlee.  Irene had naturally tanned skin and the prettiest smile.  She was 1/3 Indian heritage and absolutely loved the sun.  Jim cherishes the memory of driving to Scottsburg, IN on his wedding day with Irene.  It was a beautiful day and one that Jim will always hold dear in his heart.  Jim recalls that on dates, he and Irene would go to the movies and roller skate at Riverside Park.

Jim and Irene, after their stint in Japan, re-settled in Pittsboro and Jim began to build his career in the funeral business.  On November 18th 1955, they had a beautiful daughter, Pamela Diane, and in 1957, their son, Marc Douglas was born in December 6^th.  Jim remained devoted and loving to Pam and Marc and his 2 grand children and 5 great grand children  his entire life and had many fond memories with one another.

In 1959, Jim purchased the Ladoga Funeral home and Jim and Irene moved to Ladoga, IN.  From 1959-1986, Jim and Irene served the Ladoga and surrounding communities in the Funeral home, Insurance and Health Care industries.  It was during this period that Jim really found hit his stride and created the business success that has endured since.  Up until his retirement, in addition to the many improvements he made to the Gephart Funeral Home in Ladoga, Jim and Irene saw a community need that was unfulfilled and risk all they had to build their first nursing home in Ladoga.  They would later build or buy 4 other nursing homes during their career.

Irene passed away on August 27^th, 1999, after a year long battle with cancer.   Losing Irene dealt a heavy blow to Jim, and for the first time in his life that he can remember, he experienced the pain and grief associated with loss of a loved one for a number of years.

Jim met Mary Catherine Schrader in his Brownsburg neighborhood in 2003 and they began dating shortly thereafter.  Mary Catherine’s husband had passed away a few years earlier and the she helped Jim through his period of loss.  Jim and Mary Catherine were married on November 8^th, 2004 in Speedway, IN.  The good lord blessed Jim and Mary with 15 years of fun, travel, good health, and many fun events with family and friends.  Each of them gave something to each other that was missing in their life and each of thir life became better due to sharing their life together. They both remained active with close friends from their respective churches and neighborhood and until Jim’s sickness recently, they both exercised and had a full schedule of activities weekly.  Jim especially was happy that both families came together to celebrate Mary Catherine’s 80^th birthday in 2014 and Jim’s 90^th birthday this past September.

Jim felt his most important achievement in life was that he was able to work hard and create opportunities for his family and friends, providing opportunities for many, many people in the communities where he lived.  A simple piece of advice he wanted to leave his family and loved ones is to make sure they always love one another.  From his years as funeral home owner and director, Jim always loved the saying, “Live fast, die young, and  leave a good looking corpse.”   He would now say, upon his passing, “two out of three ain’t bad.”

Jim Gephart’s legacy will long live past his life on earth.  He was a man full of love and kindness for his family and friends.  He spent a career helping build and improve the lives of the residents in the communities where he lived.