Storke Funeral Home Obituaries

Sometimes, Jim joked about being paid to write stories for a newspaper, saying, “It sure beats working for a living!” He decided the joke made a good epitaph for his nearly five-decade run as
a reporter.
Jim, 87, formerly of Bowling Green, Virginia, was born in Charlottesville on March 24, 1937 and died on June 26, 2024 at Our Lady of Hope Health Center in Henrico. He was a retired
Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter and a former freelance writer for the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star.
He was a 1955 graduate of Caroline High School. He went on to Washington & Lee University, where he majored in journalism and graduated in 1959. Jim served in the Army from 1959 to 1961, rising in rank to First Lieutenant.
Jim’s career in journalism began in North Carolina, followed by stints in Massachusetts and Indiana. In 1968, he returned to Virginia and joined the Richmond News Leader, covering everything from cops and courts to Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan concerts in his “Stepping Out” column. He won four Virginia Press Association awards and retired from the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2005.
After retiring from the Times-Dispatch, he wrote feature stories in the Free Lance-Star about Caroline County places and events. The Caroline Historical Society, citing his Free Lance-Star articles, presented him its 2010 award for promoting and preserving the county’s history.
Survivors include three daughters: Christine Knego of North Chesterfield, Virginia, Catherine Lindsay of Honolulu, Hawaii, and Cheryl Cox of Bon Air, Virginia, and six grandchildren: Sean, India and Liam Lindsay, Sydney Knego, and Mason and Archer Cox.
A memorial service will be held at Bowling Green United Methodist Church at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 13, and the family will have a private burial later.
Donations to the educational foundation of the Virginia chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists at Virginia SPJ,SDX Educational Foundation – SPJVA Today are appreciated.