James Clifford Lively

James Clifford Lively, Timberville, VA

Born May 14, 1935, Crab Orchard Tennessee

Died November 4, 2026

Survived by his wife, Gail Lytton Lively; his son, Christopher James Lively; his daughter, Kathleen Gail Lively (Sarah Coburn); his grandchildren, Nicholas and Samuel Nussbaum, and countless nieces and nephews.

Jim liked to say he was just a “hillbilly who was born in a barn”, and indeed he was. The oldest of Albert and Cora Lively’s five children, he was born in the one room house attached to their barn. His family was visited by Eleanor Roosevelt, who insisted on holding baby Jim. He and his siblings were raised in the Cumberland mountains of Tennessee; a place that would continue to call him home. Jim could trace his ancestry back to both Native American heritage as well as the English old country. He was a direct descendent of Chief White Feather from the Tihanama people of Tennessee. After working on the railroad, running moonshine, and building cars for GM, he knew that a better future lay in post-war Washington D.C. where he was hired by Uncle Sam’s General Services Administration for his typing and accounting skills. D.C was also where he met his wife, Gail. Through hard work, perseverance, hillbilly smarts and boundless love and curiosity for the world and everyone in it, he created a life that a boy from Crab Orchard, TN could only dream of. Jim worked 30 years as a proud public servant. He could not afford college so he started at the bottom of the civil service ladder. He worked nights selling shoes at Sears on Wisconsin Avenue and weekends keeping the books at a hotel restaurant in order to buy a small row house in which to raise his family. He became a beacon of his Glover Park neighborhood where he lived for 25 years, serving as an ANC commissioner. He was recognized for his work with D.C. Crime Solvers and his service on the Metropolitan Police Citizen’s Advisory Board. He always had time and money to donate to the Police Boys and Girls Club and Camp Brown for disadvantaged children. Playing Santa Claus for the Glover Park Citizens Association every Christmas was the highlight of his year. He enjoyed community volleyball and collected as many Glover Park Day T-shirts as he could. He never met a stranger and he knew and cared about everyone in the neighborhood. He loved cars and taught his children how to take care of them; how to paint houses and tin roofs; how to tend a victory garden; cut a watermelon and share it with neighbors; how to grill a steak; run the keg at the block party; and dance the two step. He was a taxi driver for his grandchildren and their afterschool activities and he enjoyed being a gentleman farmer in West Virginia for a number of years. He and his wife ran a stall at the Georgetown flea market after his retirement and could be found frequently trolling the “alley store” in Glover Park picking up and making use of whatever “good stuff” people were throwing away. He was a dance fan, a music lover and a guitar player. His musical tastes were vast: jazz, soul, R&B, bluegrass, country, pop. He was a WAMU bluegrass listener as well as a WPFW listener. He was president of the National Association of Lively families and enjoyed their yearly reunions as well as his many high school reunions, which he attended religiously. He met, employed and enabled many immigrants to the D.C. area and helped them find good employment and become model citizens. Jim always tried to learn whatever language they were speaking. He loved his wife of 65 years and his children and grandchildren were his proudest achievements. The world is smaller and less loving without him in it, but we are all sure that he has met his parents, brothers, and sisters again and is busy trying to find the next great deal in heaven. And when he finds it he will tell a great story about it and share whatever he finds with all of the new friends he has made.

A remembrance service will be led by Rev.Dr. Katherine Low at St. Luke’s United Church of Christ (County Line), 107 Short Lane, Timberville, VA, 22853 on Thursday, November 12 at 1:00 p.m.