Wellston businessman and entrepreneur, James H. “Jim” Gettles, passed away Sunday morning, Nov. 1, 2020, at his home. He was born Dec. 31, 1929 in Wellston, Ohio, son of the late Carl R. Gettles and Eula M. Fisher Gettles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jim began his working career at an early age, passing newspapers door to door and working at the family business, Gettles Grocery, Feed and Hardware. He graduated from Wellston High School in 1948, and following graduation, he enlisted in the United States Navy. In 1965, Jim became the manager of Dodrill Ford in Wellston. During that time, the Ford Mustang was introduced and Jim would tell the story of helping sell 15 Mustangs in one day. In 1968, Jim, along with Clyde Maxwell, purchased the W.F. Cline Co. in McArthur, a wholesale plumbing, heating, electrical and hardware supply store, and renamed it G&M Supply. Jim continued in that business until its sale in 1987. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years, Jim kept busy developing both residential and commercial real estate, including the 60-acre Wellston Industrial Park. He was also a licensed real estate agent and certified appraiser. In addition, Jim was a licensed auctioneer, and gave of his time to help raise thousands of dollars for numerous local fundraising events. Jim was one of the founders of the Wellston Retail Merchants Association and a former member of the Jackson County Board of Mental Retardation, now known as the Jackson County Board of Developmental Disabilities, which created J-Vac Industries. He was a charter member of the Wellston Lions Club, and served as emcee for the Lions Club Horse Show and the Lions Club Halloween Costume Contest for many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jim was also a member of the American Legion Post 371 in Wellston, the Black Diamond Lodge #538 F&AM, the Shiloh Shrine Club, and past president and member of the Fairgreens Country Club. He was a member of the former E.U.B. Church and attended the former Trinity United Methodist Church. In his spare time, Jim enjoyed golfing, fishing and was an avid hunter. With his gregarious personality, Jim had a way of making everyone feel special in his company, but none were more precious to him than his family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is survived by his wife, Donna Summers Gettles; daughters and sons-in-law, Janet and Mike Stickler of Oak Hill, Ed and Terri Martin of Wellston and Teresa and Ron Thames of Sharpsburg, Georgia; daughters by marriage, Nicole Summers of Wellston and Kristen Summers of Independence, Missouri; sister, Mary Lou Montgomery of Wellston; as well as seven grandchildren and several great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of friends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides his parents, Jim was preceded in death by the mother of his children, Marylin French Gettles; sister and brother-in-law, Roberta and Vaughn Huffman; brother-in-law, Arthur Guy Montgomery; nephew, Russ Bethel; niece, Jill Kemp; and great-niece, Neysea Gail Waugh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Calling hours will be Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the McWilliams Funeral Home in Wellston. Funeral service will be Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, at 1 p.m. at the McWilliams Funeral Home with Pastor John Pelletier and Pastor Richard Moore officiating. Burial, with military honors, will follow in the Ridgewood Cemetery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those who choose to attend the services, due to COVID and state mandates, facial coverings are required inside the building, along with the practice of social distancing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In lieu of flowers, the family would greatly appreciate memorial contributions in Jim’s honor be given to one of the following: \u00a0Forty et Eight c\/o Wellston American Legion Post 371, 1001 S. Penn. Ave., Wellston, OH 45692; Wellston Lions Club, P.O. Box 540, Wellston, OH 45692; Wellston City Schools, 1 East Broadway, Wellston, OH 45692; or The Ronnie Thames Foundation, 800 Commerce Dr., Peachtree City, GA 30269.\u00a0 Online condolences can be sent to the family at\u00a0www.mcwilliams-funeralhome.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wellston businessman and entrepreneur, James H. “Jim” Gettles, passed away Sunday morning, Nov. 1, 2020, at his home. He was born Dec. 31, 1929 in Wellston, Ohio, son of the late Carl R. Gettles and Eula M. Fisher Gettles. Jim began his working career at an early age, passing newspapers door to door and working\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-obituaries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jacksoncountyohiogen.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jacksoncountyohiogen.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jacksoncountyohiogen.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jacksoncountyohiogen.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jacksoncountyohiogen.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jacksoncountyohiogen.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11166,"href":"https:\/\/jacksoncountyohiogen.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11165\/revisions\/11166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jacksoncountyohiogen.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jacksoncountyohiogen.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jacksoncountyohiogen.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}