James K. Wells, 65, died August 27, 2010, at Florida Hospital Ormond. A service will be held at 7pm Wednesday, September 1st at Volusia Memorial Funeral Home, 4815 Clyde Morris Blvd., Port Orange, Florida. The family will receive friends Wednesday; 5-7 p.m. at the Funeral Home prior to the service.
Mr. Wells was born September 27, 1947 in Lake City, Florida to Arthur and Mary Wells but has been living in Dayton Beach for the last 50+ years. He retired after nearly 40 years of service from Bell South and was a long time member of the C.W.A. and the Pioneers. Left to cherish his memory are his father, Arthur Wells; the love of his life and wife of 43 years, Beverly Wells; their two daughters, Denise Wells Pooser, Tracy Wells Epstein; and three grandchildren, Hunter, McKenzie and Logan. A devoted son, husband and father, he will be greatly missed by his family and all who knew him. Jimmy always gave to his family and friends, expecting nothing in return. Through the years Jimmy enjoyed snorke-ling, lobstering in the keys, traveling, golfing, woodworking and spending time with his family and friends. At the family's request, in lieu of flowers we ask that donations be made to the American Heart Association or the American Kidney Association.
1947-2010
Well-wishers, 'little treasures' help 'Mr. K' battle cancer
By LINDA TRIMBLE and KATHY KELLY
Staff Writers
DAYTONA BEACH -- When Jimmy Kirton headed off to college at Florida State University in 1962, his dad said goodbye with a firm handshake.
When Kirton was recovering from surgery to remove his cancer-riddled stomach two years ago, his father kissed him on the top of his head three times and told his son how much he loved him.
The uncharacteristic emotional exchange is one of the "little things" Kirton treasures in his ongoing battle against cancer.
"Little," maybe, in the sense they can happen any day without warning, but never small in the strength they provide to Kirton in his fight to survive.
Like his network of loving family and loyal friends so vast that Kirton uses an alias to keep from being overrun by visitors when he checks into Halifax Medical Center for treatment.
Or the note from a former Seabreeze High School student, now a cancer researcher, who apologized for not yet finding a cure to help heal "Mr. K," her beloved high school principal.
"It's very humbling when you get something like this," said Kirton, who was principal at Seabreeze for 12 years and spent the last two years as deputy superintendent of Flagler County schools.
With his energy sapped by the cancer's spread and the prospect of more surgery and chemotherapy, the 61-year-old Kirton retired in May to concentrate on getting better.
He spends most of his time these days at home, surrounded by the 900 acres of Kirton land off Tomoka Farms Road where he grew up working side-by-side with his parents and siblings on the family dairy farm.
All Jimmy Kirton ever wanted was to be a cowboy, but his father, Myron, insisted he go to college first before deciding on an occupation. That led to a 30-year career as a teacher, coach and administrator in Volusia County schools.
Down from 204 to 130 pounds and looking pale, Kirton is frustrated he can't ride horses, mend fences or herd cattle the way he has all his life.
Still, he said, "it beats being on the other side of the grass."
With his wife, Eva, at his side and constant canine companion, Josh, at his feet, Kirton talked recently about his life and his illness with optimism and a very healthy dose of humor.
The Kirtons both wear yellow LiveStrong bracelets -- gifts from a friend -- as daily reminders of cycling champion Lance Armstrong's successful battle against cancer.
The couple married 18 years ago. Just as Kirton's parents before him, they blended two families together, now boasting of four grown children and nine grandchildren.
"It brings you closer together," Kirton said of his illness. "It makes you fall in love with your wife more."
He credits his wife with his recovery from that first surgery in 2003. She was his toughest taskmaster, insisting that he get up, shave, shower and get dressed every day whether he felt like it or not.
Without that, "I would have lain there and died," he said. Eva Kirton is not a nurse, but her years as a unit coordinator at Halifax Medical Center have taught her the importance of working hard to bounce back.
She's constantly researching treatments that might help her husband beat the cancer that threatens to cut short his life. Kirton himself is "looking for that miracle" to restore his health.
Beyond the physical care from his wife and doctors -- many of them parents of his former students at Seabreeze -- Kirton is focusing on the spiritual side of life to recover.
Although Kirton was not at odds with anyone personally, a friend's gift of a Bible verse on the need for forgiveness caused him to focus on the future and not the past.
Even his once-bitter feelings over the way school district officials handled a complaint that he interfered with a 2002 drug investigation at Seabreeze have mellowed. Kirton was cleared of wrongdoing, but retired a year early because of hard feelings over the incident.
"In order to get better, you've got to forgive," he said. "You forget all that and put your energy into getting better."
For Kirton, the support of former students, their parents and lifelong friends like T.K. Wetherell, who played football with him at Mainland and now is president of Florida State University, is critical.
"Jimmy and I were probably closer than my own brother when I was growing up," said Wetherell, a 1963 Mainland graduate. "We literally were brothers."
Wetherell laughed as he recalled the times they spent together.
"I taught him to hunt and fish, and he taught me about girls," he said.
Wetherell was diagnosed with prostate cancer just a month before his longtime friend learned he, too, had a malignancy. Their bond, if anything, has strengthened since then.
Earlier this month, Wetherell visited his old football buddy on the farm.
"That dang fool was out there riding a horse," Wetherell said. "He's gonna be OK."
Wetherell was part of a steady stream of visitors to Kirton's farm that included Jim Surratt, a former Volusia school superintendent who retired to Port Orange last year after several years in Texas.
"There's never been a person who's ever been an ideal cowboy better than Jimmy Kirton," said Surratt, pointing to his friend's sense of "honor and doing what a man is supposed to do."
Former coaching colleague and longtime friend Tony Melachrino compared Kirton to Will Rogers, a popular movie actor and newspaper columnist in the 1920s and 1930s known for his folksy, Western sayings.
Jimmy Kirton "never met a student he didn't like; he loved them all," Melachrino said.
Many of those students are now returning the favor by calling, writing and visiting their former coach and principal.
As for himself, Melachrino frequently prays with Kirton for healthier days ahead.
"It's going to take a miracle," Melachrino said. "But God can do that. God is in the miracle business."
linda.trimble@news-jrnl.com
kathy.kelly@news-jrnl.com