James "Jim" Alsa Chambers

James Alsa “Jim” Chambers passed away Wednesday, June 6, 2007, thirteen days shy of his 80 th birthday.   He was a life-long resident of Clinch County .   Born to Dorothy Williams Chambers and Thomas Cleon Chambers, he was preceded in death by his wife, Mabel McGarity Chambers and his brother, T.C Chambers, Jr.   Mr. Chambers attended Emory at Oxford University and graduated from Duke University as a Phi Beta Kappa honors student with degrees in Accounting and Business Management.   He was retired from Chambers Home Center , a family-owned business and later worked for Standard Container Corporation as Director of Transportation.   He was a founding member of the Clinch Industrial Committee and helped recruit Standard Container Corporation, now known as B-Way.   He was a pioneer of the blueberry industry in Georgia , founding Chambers Bros Farms in 1978.   Throughout his life he was active in many organizations involving area planning and development, first serving on the Area Planning and Development Commission known today as the Southeast Georgia Regional Development Center .   He was the longest serving board member in the nation. In 1993, he was awarded the Liston Elkins Award for distinguished service to Southeast Georgia . He was a member of the National Association of Development Organizations receiving the Nick Salazar Award in 1980 for the outstanding board member in the nation. He was a long serving member of the Clinch County Tax Assessors Board.   In 1999, the Clinch County Chamber of Commerce recognized him as being the Citizen of the year.   He was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and a devoted life-long member of the Homerville United Methodist Church . He was also a long serving member of the Clinch County Lion’s Club.   He is survived by his daughter and son-in- law, Dorothy Adair and Winston Peterson and several nephews and nieces.        Funeral services for Mr. Chambers will be held Saturday, June 9, 2007, at 11:00 a.m. at the Homerville United Methodist Church .   Visitation will be at Roundtree Funeral Home in Homerville on Friday, the 8 th , from 7 until 9 p.m.   Reverend James Davis will be officiating the service.   Mary Francis Newton, the Honorable Brooks Blitch, III, and J. Donald Lee will speak.   Burial will be held at Pine Forest Cemetery .   Active pallbearers are Kenton McLaine, Richard Young, Ryder Godfrey, Paul Tang, Alex Cornelius, Joe Cornelius, Brian Brown, Gerald Smith and Nolan McLaine.   Honorary pallbearers include:   Willie Hardee, Charles B. Rice, Roy Rhodes, Wink Strickland, Allen Bennett, Johnny Smith, John Bennett, Lace Futch, Frank Creasy, Ray Horner, Paul Barber, Wallace Jernigan, Phillip Manley, Len Robbins, Troy Riberon, W. C. Fender, Jimmy McLaney, Allen Kennedy, Solomon Tolle, Gerard Krewer, Charles Gruver, Jeff Helms, Eric Lutz, Red Gibbs, John Hughes, Phil Martin, Bill Maxwell, Reid Register, Dr. Kuldeep Singh, Steve Conner, Buddy Spradley, Harry Hughes, Curtis Hughes, and Jeff Brown.   Roundtree Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.