James B. Harper Jr., 62, of Troy, MO passed away at the comfort of his own home surrounded by his loving family on August 23, 2021.  Jim was born September 28, 1958 to James Sr. and Marilyn (Jackson) Harper in Ogdensburg, NY, the youngest of three children.

Jim is survived by his wife Marolyn of 20 years; his children, Thomas Bean (Michael Buchheit), Richard (Kristen) Harper, Joshua Harper (Shawna Fair), Sandra (Josh) Eaton, Sarah (Nick) Macken; his grandchildren, Andrew, Aubrey, Lexi, Shelby, Emma, Jaxon, Lily, Haylee, Reese; his siblings, Barbara (Kurt) Frankenreiter, David (Debbie) Harper; and many nieces and nephews.  He also leaves behind several good friends who will miss him dearly.

Following in his father's footsteps, Jim began his 36-year career in the telephone industry at Southwestern Bell in 1977.  He spent most of his time as a Public Telephone Technician and the final years as a Project Engineer for Outside Plant Design.  He retired from Bell after 33 years and started working as an independent contractor for Consolidated Telecom Services continuing to provide engineering planning for AT&T until his official retirement in 2013.

Apart from his dedication toward work, Jim enjoyed spending time with family, friends, and especially his grandchildren.  He had a deep love for animals to include his late dogs Dutchess, PITA and Lucky.  He even covertly held a place in his heart for "the damn cat!"  He also loved to play the drums in his man cave, relax in his pole barn, draw personalized greeting cards, go fishing, work around the house and take golf cart rides around his estate.   His grass was always cut, his vehicles and lawnmowers were immaculately maintained and everything was in its place.  He had a quirky fondness for lawnmowers, freshly poured concrete and telling you how his generation's music was the best of all time.  No matter who you were, when you pulled into his driveway, he would give you a complimentary vehicle inspection closely examining the tread on your tires and the expiration of your license plate tags.  Nothing pleased him more than helping someone else in need and his generosity knew no bounds.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.  In lieu of donations or flowers, Jim would appreciate it if you cleared all of the junk out of your garage and started parking your cars inside!

Friends and family are invited to visit our website at mccoyblossomfh.com to sign the on-line guest register.