James Otis Torrence's Obituary
JAMES JIM OTIS TORRENCE
Jim was born September 14, 1933 in Huntsville, Texas to Eugene T. and Mattie Etta Bunt Torrence. He left this world on September 2, 2003 after a tough battle with heart disease and cancer. Hallsville, Texas had been his home for the past 25 years.
Jim spent his high school days at Hemphill, Texas. He was the son of a saw mill superintendent. He served in the United States Army: basic training at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, transferred to Ft. Sill Oklahoma for helicopter training. The helicopter training school was moved to Ft. Rooker in Dothan, Alabama and he went there. He was stationed in Germany during the Korean War. He was a lifetime member of VFW Post 3893 in Nacogdoches. He was honored with a United States flag that was flown over the U. S. Capitol for his service.
He married Gwen Poskey from Nacogdoches and they had two children. She died in November, 1963. He met Sidney Charlene Henigan when he went to Marshall, Texas to build I-20 as a superintendent for Spencer Construction Co. They married August 2, 1965 in Hallsville.
Jim was well respected for his work ethic and skills for building highways, interstates, and power plants all over Texas. His work was written about in several Texas magazines.
His hobbies were sports cars and traveling. When he retired from building highways, he went into the oil and gas field as a pipeliner with two of his sons. He loved being a pipeliner and spent his last days being one.
Of all the things in his life that he did?He was most proud of being a parent and a child of God. He was baptized on April 22, 2001.
He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Marie Davis and a new born daughter, Jean Torrence. Jim?s surviving family includes his wife, Charlene and 5 children: Billy Joe and Kay Torrence of Kilgore, Renada and Robert Patterson of Houston, James Charles Torrence of Longview, James Otis Torrence, Jr. SFSA Senior and Matt Eugene Torrence Kilgore Jr. College of Hallsville. Also surviving are grandchildren: Jason and Jordan Patterson and Stephen Torrence Kilgore Jr. College; brothers, Billy Joe Torrence of Kilgore and Bobby and Eileen Torence of Nacogdoches; sisters, Dorothy and Vic Victory and Caroline and Jim Morris of Houston and brother-in-law Gene Davis of Nacogdoches; nieces and nephews: Angel HHS senior and Chris Kennedy TSTC student, Donna Jean Faulkner, Stormy Rodden, Carole Baker, Donald Davis, Bud Torrence, and Steven Torrence.
Services will be held Friday, September 5th at the Hallsville First Baptist Church with Rev. David Massey officiating. Burial will be at the Hallsville Cemetery under the direction of Rader Funeral Home of Longview. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Thursday evening 6 to 9 PM
Pallbearers are his four sons, Billy, James, Jim, Jr. and Matt, grandson, Stephen Torrence and friend, Thomas Baughman. Honorary pallbearers will be old friends: R.L. Armstrong, Royce Sanders, Billy Anderson, brother-in-law Jack Phillips, Thomas Henigan, Roy Henigan, Billy Henigan, Charles Henigan and Lynn Henigan, Pairs and Spares Sunday School Class members of Hallsville First Baptist Church, and all of POP?s pipeliner friends.
Memorial contributions may be made to the building fund at the First Baptist Church of Hallsville.
A memorial guestbook may be signed at www.raderfh.com
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