James Earl Page

Mr. James Earl Page, 93, passed away on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at the Chester Regional Medical Center, while recovering from hip surgery. The funeral service will be 2:00 PM Saturday, November 24, 2012 at Bethel United Methodist Church with Rev. Allen D. Wolfe officiating.The interment will be at Chester Memorial Gardens.The family will receive friends from 1:00 – 2:00Saturday at Bethel United Methodist Church. Mr. Page was born October 12, 1919 in Rocky Mount, NC to the late John Junius Page and Bertha Barnett Page.The family moved to Chester, SCand Mr. Page attended the schools of Union and Chester Counties. He was a veteran of the US Navy during WWII and served as a Gunner’s Mate Second Class on two ships-of-the-line.Upon returning home from service he met and married Johnnie Grant Page, his wife of sixty-seven years and became the Parts Manager of the Chester Ford Dealership where he served for more than forty years.During his tenure there he received numerous Service and Achievement awards from the Ford Motor Company. Mr. Page was an active member of the Bethel United Methodist Church of Chester and served on many of the Church’s committees, including terms as Chairman of the Administrative Board and Board of Trustees.Mr. Page was also a Mason, and life member of Lodge #18 in Chester. In addition to his wife, Mr. Page was preceded in death by two sisters, Irene B. Page and Helen Page Pope, and three brothers, J. Fred Page, William H. Page and D. Wilkes Page, all of Chester. Mr. Page is survived by his daughter, Earline Page Melchior and her husband Dr. George William Melchior, three grandsons: George William Melchior, III of Portsmouth, N.H., Dr. James Ryland Melchior of Winston-Salem, and Dr. John Trevvett Melchior of Cincinnati, OH; and one great grandson, Finnegan Reed Melchior of Portsmouth, N.H. The family wishes to express their gratitude to Mr. Page’s caregivers, Linda Stephenson and Marie Worthy who enhanced the quality of his life in so many ways during his final year. Memorials may be made to Bethel United Methodist Church, PO Box 751, Chester, SC 29706. Online condolences for the family can be made at www.barrronfuneralhome.com.