JAMES RAY (JIM) MCATEER

James Ray (Jim) McAteer, 81, of Navasota, lost his battle with Parkinson’s Disease January 31, 2021, at the VA facility in Temple, TX. He was attended by his loving wife, Lila, and her daughter, Leota Hubbard.

Jim was the youngest of four children born to David Crocket and Georgia Mae (Blair) McAteer in Spur, TX on October 20, 1940.

Jim married Lila Smith in Hempstead, TX on September 13, 1992. They had no children together, but Jim had three children Lynn Lum, Kathy Jo Zeigler and Guy McAteer and Lila has Nona Kindsvater, Calvin Hubbard and Leota Hubbard – they were all young adults at the time.

Jim loved football. He was the quarterback all four years in Fort Stockton. He then received a football scholarship to TCU in Fort Worth where he participated in ROTC and met Sharon King, mother of his children.

After graduating, Jim joined the U.S. Army in 1964. In Germany he was with the 82nd Airborne and all of his jumps were in Germany. When he was in Vietnam as a Captain, Jim created a team to inspect the fire bases. During his service, Jim received the following medals: National Defense Service, Vietnam Campaign, Bronze Star and Army Commendation.

After leaving the army, Jim managed a Mexican food restaurant before securing a job as a representative of a van conversion company. Jim moved to Pasadena, TX to be the fleet manager for a car dealership. He then went to Lawrence Marshall Dealership where Jim won the Legion of Leadership Award four years in a row from Chevrolet for his truck sales.

He finished his career with 10 years with FEMA in External Affairs.

He was preceded in death by his parents; siblings, David (Sonny) McAteer, George McAteer and Ruth McAteer.

Memorial Service will be held 2:00 p.m., Saturday, January 29, 2022, at Navasota VFW Post 4006.