ANSONIA — Jim “Red” Moody left this world on March 4 at the age of 81, and leaves behind many mourners, not to mention memories of those who knew and loved him.

Moody was proud to have served his country with the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. He had been active in the Gettysburg Masonic Lodge, Ansonia American Legion and former Veterans of Foreign Wars [of which he had served as a commander], Greenville Liars Club and the Ohio Dealers Association. He was also one of those who were instrumental in forming the Ansonia Fourth of July committee.

A member of the Rose Hill Church, he owned and operated Moody’s Auto Sales in Ansonia for 39 years. And, as a businessman, he did many things for Ansonia students and programs through generous donations throughout the years.

He raised Belgian Draft horses and participated in parades and a wagon train.

“Jim was always interested in the betterment of others, including his family and the community. This was demonstrated through every aspect of his life,” said Darke County Common Pleas Court Judge Jon Hein. ” Jim served as a jury commissioner from 1999 through May 2014. He added integrity and public confidence into the process of selecting and managing juries for the courts of this county. His service was exemplary. This court and the public owe a huge debt of gratitude to Jim for this service. Personally, I will miss his sense of humor, friendly smile and warm hand shake. The Ansonia community and this county have lost a good friend.”

“I enjoyed working with Jim when he was jury commissioner,” said Melva Barga.

“Although Jim was an active business owner for many years he always was asking how my businesses were doing,” remarked Andrew Riffle, owner of the Whistle Stop in Ansonia. “You could tell he honestly cared about the well-being of his community and all of its businesses and organizations.”

“I liked him,” said John Waggoner. ” Jim, Dick Michael and I went places to get out to eat. After Dick died [this past September], we did not go out anymore. I remember Jim bought a raisin pie at the Sweet Shop in Versailles one time, and Dick ate one piece and Jim ate the rest all in one day there at the Sweet Shop. I bought four cars from Jim.”

“Jim helped me out when I went through a divorce years ago,” commented Ed Huff Jr. “He was a good friend. He always liked helping people.”

“Jim and I served in the Marines together in 1956 and 1957 in the MPs/military police, and I also worked for him at Moody’s,” said Wallace Rich.

“Jim was a great guy…full of fun and very honest,” remarked Ron and Norma Bruner. “He always had your best interest in his heart.”

“Saddened to hear Jim has passed,” wrote Saceia Armstrong-Rismiller. “Whenever I would see him when visiting at home you know he would always try and give me a hard time about stuff. “

“To a great and loving family man whom I knew a short time,” said Jimmy Meade. “Thanks for your humorous jokes and the warm welcoming you made me feel when I walked into your home the last two years at Thanksgiving. Your family makes me feel like I’m part of the family. R.I.P my friend.”

“God bless his very sweet soul,” said Tammy (Nieport) Tollefson “What a wonderful man to call friend and neighbor.”

“He helped me out a couple of times when my life wasn’t so good,” stated Gene Keesy. “Good guy. Good family!”

“Jim was a great man that will be missed by many,” wrote Larry and Sue Rainey.

“He was a great man who would help anyone,” said Vicky Henderson. “He never was a stranger to anyone; he always talked to everyone as if he had known them for years. Will always remember the good times at Rick and Nancy’s pond; he always had a comment to make about anything. He will be missed greatly and we are very proud to have known him for all of these years. Jim is now flying high with his family and friends and having no more pain we love you Jim and will miss you!”

Troy Kammer stated, “Jim was a great man with a kind and caring heart. I cherished the time I got to spend with him and my dad on the Fourth of July Committee. One Christmas Dad was down on his luck trying to find a job and our car broke down. He and Jim were talking about it after one of the meetings. Jim told him to bring it up to the shop (before the one opened on the north end of town). The next day. That night Jim brought the car back. Dad asked what he owed? Jim said ‘Nothing! Merry Christmas! Jim and the Moody family will always have a special place in my heart!”

Brad Lentz, former Ansonia FFA adviser, had this to say about him: “Jim helped the FFA by loaning us a van for convention trips or by letting us use his corral fence panels to host petting zoos at the school. Jim was a great man and I never saw him without a smile! Several times I made the ‘mistake’ of stopping for coffee in the morning! Forty-five minutes later, I was able to get away from the round table and back to work!”

The round table sat inside the gas station at Moody’s with various people gathered around it daily, apparently trying to solve the world’s problems and other things.

Another round table participant was Virgil Rismiller.

“The favorite thing there was the bull,” said Rismiller. “Jim was there the biggest part of the time. I remember something that happened long ago after Jim was first out of service. I was not married yet. At the Sinclair station, then down the street, he decided to pull a Marine trick on me and throw me over his head, but when he went down on the floor, I was on top of him. We’ve had a lot of fun out of it. That was close to 50 years ago and we couldn’t forget it. Jim’s brother, Harry, would always remind us, because he was there that night.”

“I met Jim the first time in the car lot years ago,” said Gerald Burns. “I bought a vehicle from him. When I moved to Ansonia, I started going to the round table from time to time. One thing that told me a lot about Jim…he didn’t want anybody to think he was too nice. He had that certain persona he wanted to maintain. That always stuck with me. When Dick Shook had his fire and lost everything, the very first thing Jim did was load Dick up and made sure he had everything he needed. Dick didn’t want for a thing after that. I had the impression that that was Jim’s way. When we’d sit down there [at the round table] either Doughnut [Moody’s son Dennis] and Rick [another son] would stick their cold hands down Jim’s neck. Jim would curl. I’m sure the boys got that from him when they were younger.”

Here are some excerpts of things that Rick told of his father during the funeral:

“Not too long after the doctors told us Dad had three strokes, Mom [Gail] called me and said she needed help with Dad so when I got there about five to 10 minutes later she was holding him up against the barn. How she did that I don’t know. After the strokes, they took Dad’s driver’s license away from him and he was not happy. He could not pass his written test but he kept going back until he did. Mom said he went back 13 times before he passed and then he had to pass the driving part; that took another two or three times. He was not a quitter or as I say maybe a little bull-headed.”

Rick went on, “We talked to Dad about getting his funeral arrangements taken care of but he never would. He said that us boys could do that. Thanks, Dad. I said something about getting him cremated and he told me he wanted everyone to talk by the casket and cry. Thursday, before he passed, I was standing at his bed and he looked up at me and said he would be fine and he knew he would be. He was still taking care of us.”