Donald "Jimmy" Eugene Renfrow
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| Jimmy's child with Isabel Gorski Renfrow |
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| Donna Jean Renfrow Burns |
Courtesy Stancil Reunion Archive |
Donald Eugene “Jimmy” Renfrow, also known as George Thomas, was born on November 8, 1927, in Lucama, Wilson County, North Carolina, to James Graydon and Celia Rachel (Stancil) Renfrow. Graydon and Rachel were married on December 8, 1926, in Selma. Jimmy was the oldest of their children, including siblings J.G., Gilda Gray, Charles Edward, and Harold Thomas. He was delivered by a midwife, and his father nicknamed him "Jimmy" because Donald Eugene was deemed too difficult for a young boy to say. His great-uncle, Harvey Stancil, gave him the additional nickname George Thomas.
Jimmy's early years were spent immersed in farm life. He started school in Buckhorn in 1933. After the family moved to the Peacock Place in Kenly in 1936, he attended third grade there before they returned to Buckhorn. In 1937, the family moved back to Lucama. From a young age, Jimmy was responsible for farm chores like plowing and milking, a task he continued until he left home. He recalled the constant hard work of farming, including picking cotton and battling boll weevils, but noted there was always plenty of food. He caught his first fish at age 10 in the Little River near Smithfield, which his mother Rachel fried just for him. Fishing remained a lifelong hobby.
School was not particularly appealing to Jimmy, and he left after completing ninth grade at Rock Ridge. Upon turning 18 in November 1945, he sought other opportunities. Rachel supported his decision to explore options beyond farming.
In January 1946, Jimmy was drafted into the military. Though he initially failed his physical due to his eyesight, he passed a second examination and enlisted immediately, joining the Army Air Corps at Fort Bragg. When the U.S. Air Force was officially established in 1947, he transferred to it and completed his high school education while in service. He was initially trained as a teletype operator but volunteered for cooking school. After training, he was assigned to the Westover officer's mess, where he once famously discreetly removed a worm from a salad he had prepared for an Army doctor's party. He often quoted the military motto: "Army operates on its stomach; if you don't have your food, you don't have your Army!" During his service, he was stationed in Greenland from June to March in the late 1940s, returning to the U.S. aboard the SS103 refrigeration ship.
In 1948, Jimmy bought his first car, a 1940 Dodge, for $800, with gasoline costing 19 cents per gallon. While stationed at Westbury, New York, in 1951, he met Isabel Gorski at a place called 'Paradise,' a local beer joint. He was drawn to her beautiful smile. They began dating in July 1951. Isabel's parents, Thomas and Anna Gorski, had immigrated from Hamburg and Bremen, Germany, respectively, in the early 1900s and were part of the Polish community in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Isabel was born on July 4, 1929, in Chicopee, and grew up in a bilingual home, speaking and writing both English and Polish. She worked at the Spaulding Factory stitching baseballs after high school.
Jimmy bought his first new car, a green 1952 Chevrolet, for $1900, which he considered a perfect start to married life. Jimmy and Isabel were married on February 23, 1952, in the Catholic Chapel at Westover Air Force Base, with Isabel's sister Helen as Matron of Honor and Helen's husband, Stanley Wojnicki, as Best Man. Throughout their 56-year marriage, Isabel attended the Catholic Church, and Jimmy attended the Presbyterian Church.
In 1956, Jimmy was stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia. During this time, he and Isabel lived in Circle Trailer Park and were able to visit his cousin Mozelle Stancil Campbell, daughter of his great-uncle Josiah Stancil. Mozelle's daughter, JoAnn, remembered their visits. Jimmy and Isabel doted on their boxer dog until Mozelle advised them that getting rid of the dog might help Isabel become pregnant. After the dog was gone, their daughter, Donna Jean, was born on February 21, 1958.
In 1959, when Donna was 1 year old, Jimmy was ordered to Alaska for a two-year tour. Since only children over two could accompany their parents, Isabel and Donna moved into a trailer in her parents' yard. Jimmy worked extra hard to reduce his tour to 18 months. Upon his return, it took Donna some time to adjust to having her father home.
Jimmy retired from the Air Force in 1966 after serving during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He then joined the civil service in Virginia, working in the Officers Mess Hall at Westover during the Vietnam War and later at the Northampton V.A. Hospital. He took a test to become a chief cook, and his best duty station was at Langley. When he retired from civil service in 1989, he had served a total of 37 years and 2 months in the Air Force and civil service.
After Jimmy retired in 1989, he and Isabel moved to Chicopee, Massachusetts. Isabel, who had a "green thumb" like her mother, enjoyed gardening and was proud of her Rose of Sharon and houseplants. She also enjoyed music, particularly Bluegrass and Country and Western. Their pets over the years included a Boxer and two Siamese cats named Ralph and Reba. A stray kitten named Herman was adopted while they lived in Vermont.
After Isabel had a stroke in 1990, Jimmy adopted a cat named Tinkerbelle. Isabel remained at home for years before entering a convalescing home in Chicopee, where Jimmy visited her almost daily, reflecting their close and loving relationship.
Jimmy and his brother J.G. were avid Red Sox fans. In the mid-1990s, they met their baseball idol, Ted Williams, at his museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Isabel died on July 7, 2008, at the Williamansett Care Center in Chicopee. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on July 11, 2008, at the Basilica of St. Stanislaus in Chicopee, and she was buried in the Massachusetts Veteran's Memorial Cemetery in Agawam, Massachusetts.
Jimmy lived alone in Chicopee for several years before spending his final years with his daughter, Donna, in London, New Hampshire. He regularly attended Stancil Reunions. In 2016, J.G. and his grandson Thomas Strother visited Jimmy, Donna, and her children Alexis and Nicholas in New Hampshire.
Donald Eugene “Jimmy” Renfrow died at the age of 89 on June 22, 2017, after a brief hospital stay due to cancer. He was buried in the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam. He was preceded in death by his wife, Isabel; his sister, Gilda Gray Renfrow Six, and her husband Walter; his brothers Charles Edward Renfrow and Harold Thomas Renfrow; and his nephews Mark Walter Six and Matthew Walter Six. Jimmy is remembered as a kind, gentle, loving father and grandfather with a warm and affable personality.
— Renn Stancil Hinton, daughter of George Ralph Stancil