POTTER, JAMES MASON 53, passed away on Friday, November 13th, 2020. He was born February 7, 1967 in Springfield, Ohio. He was proceeded in death by his beloved wife Barbara (Hull) Potter and his Aunt Joyce Shellabarger. He leaves behind his parents, Nancy and Thomas Brackett and Wilfred Potter and Sharon Potter, sister and brother in law Jan and Jayson Sturgeon, and his nephew Maxwell Sturgeon and his special buddy Lou, the cat. Maternal Aunt and Uncle, Elizabeth and Charles Spinning, cousins Maggie Gates, Chip Spinning and Marty Spinning. Paternal Uncle Charles R. Shellabarger. cousins Joann (Shellabarger) Stratton, Karen (Shellabarger) Whitt and Charles R. Shellabarger, Jr. Paternal Uncle and Aunt Leon and Linda Potter, cousins Randy (Jackie) Potter and Rhonda DePriest.
Jim was a devoted husband who adored his sweet wife Barb and missed her terribly until the day he died. He was a wonderful son and brother who would begrudgingly undertake just about any hairbrained idea we came up with. He was a great uncle who willingly shared all his bad habits with his nephew and friends' kids. Jim graduated in 1985 from Kenton Ridge High School. He attended Clark State Community College and went on to work at Super Scout Specialists and at Sporty Car Garage, where he built a huge network of lifelong friends and family and honed his mechanical knowledge. Jim could fix anything and many of you know him for this, from first-hand knowledge. Jim made great memories and good friends from every phase of his life, who are like brothers and sisters to him. If you knew him and knew him well, he touched you and most likely helped you with one of your hairbrained ideas too. He was quick witted and made everyone laugh and laugh hard, sometimes inappropriately so. He was usually one of the smartest in the room and shared his knowledge and guidance with hundreds of people whenever they needed him. He also never failed to point out when you said or did something stupid and would make a joke of you so you had to laugh at yourself. He would deliver zingers after meeting people and based on your response decide if you were going to be friends. The quicker you got his wit, the better.
His love of music and his recall of the history of music was like none other. He was a very talented guitar player and we loved to hear him play. He enjoyed playing all his guitars and performing in his band at local bars and clubs. His music was one of his great passions from middle school on. He started in early high school playing Jimi Hendrix and the rest was history. You could ask him anything about music and his eyes would twinkle just talking about it. We will all miss his gift of music greatly.
Special thanks to his dear friends from Super Scout and Sporty Car, and Tom Williams without whose help we would be lost.
Because Covid-19 We will be waiting to celebrate Jim's life with a gathering of family and friends in the early Summer. In lieu of flowers, please take a moment to listen to your favorite music, turn it up loud and have a smoke and walk down memory lane in Jim's honor. Jim was one cool dude who lived his life on his own terms, and we are going to miss him terribly.