James "Jimmie" Voner

James (Jimmie) Voner

Jimmie, born James Lawrence, was the second child born to Elizabeth Kennedy Lawrence on Sunday, March 9, 1924. It is important to him that he be referred to as “Jimmie” and never “James”.

One of his purposes in life is to ask, “is the capital of Kentucky ‘Louis-ville’ or ‘Louie-ville’.
Growing up, he has stated that he never went to the same school in June where he started in September until he went to High School at Detroit’s Northern.

It was during this time the State of Pennsylvania said his name was James Voner.

He graduated in January 1941 and then joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CC Camp), the public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families as part of the New Deal. In fact he was the last Black man released from this program in Michigan. He was able to serve in this program as well as several of his cousins. When he completed his time at the CC Camp, he joined the US Army to serve in World War II from April 1943 to March 1946.

In the Army, he served in the 92nd Infantry Division, aka te Buffalo Soldiers. He was a Clerk Typist, as well as a Sharp Shooter. He earned a Purple Heart when he was shot and this injury led to his early discharge.

When he returned home from his service, he worked at LA Young. He went on to work for the US Army Corps of Engineers as a surveyor where he worked most of his years the Detroit River to clear the way for freight ships.

On June 20, 1958, he married Anna Rea Boggs. There is not enough space to properly describe this relationship. The two of them had two children: Son James (Jai) and daughter Apryl.

On a family trip to New York State, the travelers were lost in Canada in the dark, in a very small town with no traditional way to determine where they were or how they were supposed to get to the east coast as the map was misplaced. Jimmie, knowing how the water was supposed to flow, knew the way to the highway and make the celebration.

One source of pride for him was his excellent attendance. He went to work through snow storms that shut down the city. He suffered a Heart Attack and worked the full day before he actually had to take some time off from work. (They had an earlier record of his taking time off for sickness, but that was a clerical error).

He worked for the Corps until February 1986 when he retired. After his retirement, he worked as a Fuller Brush Man. More importantly, he worked as an inspector for elections for the City of Detroit, working both the polls and later at the Absentee Ballot counting.

He loved sports. He took his son Jai to a game of the 1968 World Series where the Detroit Tigers played even though he was offered a lot of money to scalp his tickets. He would watch pretty much any sport, but his favorites to watch was Women’s National Basketball and Women’s Softball. He attended many of his daughter Apryl’s softball games when she played for a company league.

Jimmie loved to cook. Before cable television provided us with the Food Network, he would get the weekly Food Section from the paper and try out new foods on the family. For his wife, Anna Rea, he would prepare her foods ‘just so’ in order to make her happy. That included knowing that she wanted ‘two shakes of regular paprika and one shake of Hot paprika’ on her grits.

He loved to read. If ever there was a need to wait in line, chances are he had a paperback book in his pocket to pass the time. When he wasn’t reading books, he would read newspapers and do crossword puzzles. These he usually did in ink.

Despite his voracious reading, he watched a lot of television. Mostly, he watched Matlock. And Mrs. Matlock (Murder She Wrote). And Dr. Matlock (Diagnosis Murder). He also loved Sci-Fi. That meant shows like X-Files, Roswell, Star Trek and pretty much anything that was futuristic. When he worked, his television addiction led him to watching The Soaps of ABC Television: Ryan’s Hope, Edge of Night, All my Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital. Sometimes, he was more up on the soaps than Anna rea was. (While he was at work, he did crossword puzzles and watched television).

The morning of Sunday, October 24, Jimmie was having breakfast when he stopped breathing. He was ninety-seven and a half years old. He still had his own teeth.

By the way: the capital of Kentucky? It is Frankfort.