James (“Jim”) R. Gadd, 74 of Oviedo, Florida completed his earthly journey and entered the gates of heaven on December 24, 2023. He was surrounded by his wife, family and close friends.
Jim was born on July 17, 1949 to Craig and Virginia Gadd in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was the loving, devoted and doting husband to Elisabeth Gadd at the time of his passing. He is also survived by his siblings, Jill Howard (Richard) and Dave Gadd (Cindy), along with his three children, Kristen (Matt), Jonathan (Krista), and Cameron (Jill). He was the loving and proud Papa to eight grandchildren, Payton, Claire, Harrison, Ivy, Connor, Brinson, Madison and Claxton. He is also survived by his in-laws Lori (Jim) McDonald, Phillip (Susan) Murray, as well his step children, Kyle and Tyler (Vanessa) Newberry and proud Papa to their children, Rachel, Ashley and Jacob.
Jim was cared for during his long illness by his loving caretaker, Melissa Jasien and his Stephen’s Minister, Tom Pohill. They both went well beyond their respective roles in caring for Jim.
Jim received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Wake Forest University where he also played catcher and his Master of Business from Duke University Fuqua School of Business.
Jim lived life to the fullest professionally and in his personal life. He led a successful career at BellSouth for 34.5 years in various senior management roles serving in Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama. He served as President of the BellSouth Interactive Media Services. His final role with Bellsouth was as the CEO of Telecom Pioneers. He also proudly served in the Army Reserves for thirteen years and was a NCO Academy Instructor upon his separation. He served as Executive Director of the Oconee Alliance in his final professional role.
Jim’s leadership roles began serving as Senior Class President of Harding High School in Charlotte. As a huge proponent of community service, Jim served in many volunteer roles throughout his life, including at various churches where he was a member, President of the Wake Forest University National Alumni Council, Junior Achievement as Project Business Instructor, Board member of Points of Life Foundation, Chairperson of Connect American National Partners’ Council, member of the Oconee County Business Education Partnership, Chairman of the Education Foundation of Oconee County, Board member and Secretary of the Mountain Lakes Business Development Corporation, Board member of Leadership Oconee County, and Co-Chairman of Safe Harbor Oconee County Advisory Committee.
While Jim’s business accomplishments are impressive, his faith was important to him. He lived out that faith in part through the love and time that he shared with everyone so abundantly. He loved his wife with the greatest love that one can provide. He loved his children and grandchildren deeply and always enjoyed spending time with them, watching them grow and sharing in their accomplishments. He was the most positive and encouraging person you could ever meet. He proudly invested in people at all levels of an organization and in the community. He had a deep love for helping children, mentoring young professionals and helping the disadvantaged. As a person who came from humble beginnings, he was a huge advocate for education and was always thankful for his opportunity to gain a college education and succeed in life.
In his leisure time, one could quickly engage Jim in his love of sports, which included cheering on football, basketball and baseball for Duke University, Wake Forest, and Clemson University. He also enjoyed traveling throughout his life with his family.
Jim’s imprint on this earth will live on through the love, care and time he shared with all. He will be greatly missed by his wife, children and grandchildren, and friends far and wide.
A Celebration of Life will be held on January 10, 2024 at 11:00 at Oviedo Methodist Church, 263 King Street, Oviedo, Florida. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home or Wake Forest University Foundation (Jim and Elisabeth Gadd Education Endowment).
