James “Jim” Loring Salter
James “Jim” Loring Salter, 77, passed away on Wednesday, December 13, 2023.
Jim was born the youngest of three children to Frances and Reuben Kirkland Salter on January 10, 1946. He was an educator like many in his family (his mother and sister as well as his wife), and chose the demanding field of Special Education, starting at the Smallwood school at Moccasin Bend, then for the Hamilton County School System until retiring. Upon retiring he continued with the Catoosa County School system until he retired a second time. He had a passion for helping people and was known as a gentle giant, notable for his patience and insight. He also used his engineering skill in work - begging unused computers from other classrooms and devising ways for his students to learn with them.
After graduating from Chattanooga City High School, Jim spent two years at Georgia Tech in a rigorous program combining engineering with wrestling, at which he excelled. He then changed focus, moving to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville where he completed degree studies in Industrial Engineering. He subsequently completed a master's degree in his chosen vocation of Special Education at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He continued his interest in technology, building computers and for years a mainstay of his computer club.
He married Marsha Conway soon after their graduation from college, and the marriage endured more than 50 years, until her death. They had one daughter, Paige Salter Hassel, who now lives in Chattanooga with her husband James Hassel. Jim and Marsha spent many days and hours with Paige’s children, Christopher and Brett, during their childhood and cheering for them in countless baseball games. He and Marsha hosted relatives and friends every year for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and St Patrick’s Day celebrations. During years of Marsha’s health struggles, he sat vigil in hospital rooms, and kept a meticulous record of medications and treatments, as well as the moral support, transporting her handcrafts and sweet rolls, and making sure that all her needs were met.
Jim was a loving and supportive son of Frances Wadley Salter Nilsen, now deceased, and helped his widowed mother through many moves, renovations, and changes after the death of his father, Reuben Kirkland Salter, in 1958. Jim and Marsha spent many holidays in Sarasota after his mother moved there, and enjoyed gatherings of the cousins there, especially Jean Burgess Shaw and her husband Scott, Pete Burgess and his wife Jane, and Marsha Wadley Timm and her husband John. One of his favorite places was sitting in a seaside unit looking over the sea, sipping coffee in the mornings.
Private services will be held.
Arrangements are by John P. Franklin Funeral Home, 1101 Dodds Ave., 423 622-9995.