James R. Meese

ASHMORE – James R. Meese, 80, of Ashmore, passed away Thursday, December 4, 2025 at SBLHC.

The funeral service honoring his life will be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, December 10, 2025 at the Harper-Swickard Funeral Home, Charleston. Burial will follow in Van Voorhis Cemetery, rural Hindsboro. Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. MEMORIALS: The Coles County Animal Shelter or a charity of the Donor’s Choosing.

Jim was born June 14, 1945 at Charleston, son of James LeRoy and Kathryn J. (Baldwin) Meese. He married Nancy Joan Montgomery, October 2, 1965; she survives. Also surviving is one son, Doug Meese and husband Mark, of the San Francisco Bay Area of California; two sisters-in-law, Sue McCoskey of Hindsboro and Vivian Taber of Sullivan; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents, grandparents, two sisters-in-law, Virginia Cain and Norma Hiett, and a brother-in-law, Jim Montgomery.

In earlier years, Jim had attended the Ashmore Presbyterian Church. He had held memberships in the Charleston Moose Lodge and the Charleston Elks Lodge. Jim had served on the Ashmore Village Board, and enjoyed fishing and hunting. He also liked gardening and he and Nancy belonged to the Pantera Supper Club. He loved cars and John Deere tractors, and he had participated in tractor pulls in his younger days, naming his tractor “The Mouse That Roars”.

Jim had farmed along with his Dad for more than twenty years, and sold cars for Mooney Motors in Charleston for twenty years. In earlier years he had operated a Gun Shop, and retirement jobs included Rural King and Daugherty Motors.