- Date Of Birth: December 22, 1934
- Date Of Death: June 6, 2018
- State: Michigan
James Dale Roush, age 83, of Cassopolis, died peacefully at home, Wednesday morning, June 6, 2018, in the comfort of his family’s presence. He was born December 22, 1934 in Walkerton, Indiana, the youngest of three children born to Harold and Iva Roush.
He married Gloria Jean Harmon March 14, 1953 in Plymouth, Indiana. She preceded him in death March 11, 2017, just four days prior to their sixty-fourth wedding anniversary.James was a grocer for sixty years. He worked in various cities around the area starting with Buy-Low and retiring from Harding’s, including twenty years in Edwardsburg. He started at the bottom and worked his way up to Store Manager by the time of his retirement. James wasn’t shy and his family remembers that he was well suited to his job, since there wasn’t anyone he couldn’t easily talk to. The family doubts there were very few high school students that he hadn’t employed.
James was so committed to making sure that everyone who needed food could get it, he stayed at the store overnight during the blizzard of 1978, sleeping on bags of dog food. James was a member of Backus Masonic Lodge #55, F. & A.M. and a Shriner. He liked going to old car shows and tinkering on old cars. He thought Hudsons were the best cars and was not afraid to tell anyone who would listen. James was a wood worker, building many pieces for his sons’ homes’ with his friend George Teeter. He loved “Big Red” (Plymouth, Indiana) basketball. James would write a poem for his family every Christmas.
They will always remember his laugh.James will be greatly missed by family and friends. He is survived by his four sons, Steven (Darlene) Roush, Michael (Roxanne) Roush, Bryan (Tina) Roush, Craig (Dawn) Roush; five grandchildren; six great grandchildren; one sister, Beverly (Fred) Wolfarth; and a host of nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; his step mother, Eleanor Roush, his wife; and one sister, Donna Belle Brinkman.
