This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the February 2, 2012 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

          We come to you this week with news of the passing on January 28, 2012 of an uncommon man, our friend James C. Montgomery.  His death has left a void in our lives, his community, his church family, his many civic organizations, as well as in the lives of his fellow teachers and the many scholars he taught. 

          He was a personal friend and a loyal helper in our Magoffin County Historical Society.  Among our favorite memories of him will be observing as he, dressed in his Muzzleloading costume, demonstrated tool-making skills to the young students who visited our Pioneer Village prior to our annual Magoffin County Founders Days.

          Throughout the last 25 plus years James has been a mainstay in our historical society, attending meetings, helping make plans and then working toward carrying them to completion.  For the last 12 years he has been a member of our Board of Directors, always interested in furthering the causes we worked toward.  He always gave thoughtful consideration to whatever question that came before us and we knew we could trust his judgments.

In fact, James was active in every endeavor that was for the betterment of our county, state and nation. 

He was born in 1930 on June 24^th at Sublett, KY to Skid and Eliza (Gullett) Montgomery.  He served his country during the Korean War from 1950 through 1954 in the US Navy. His ship was a Navy Destroyer named for Ensign Robert William Uhlmann of Michigan who had been killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  James was assigned to the gunnery division and his ship saw much duty in Korean waters during his time of service.  He formed close friendships with his shipmates and he and his wife attended reunions of the crew of the USS Uhlmann when they could.

As a civilian James continued with his education and became a Vocational School teacher, spending his first years at Belfry, KY teaching electricity courses.  He also taught at Garth Vocational School and Mayo Vocational School.

James married his wife Ruth Anna Cole in 1953 while on a short leave from the Navy and they were blessed to celebrate their 50^th wedding Anniversary in 2003.  After retirement, James and Ruth Anna stayed especially busy with the Muzzleloaders Club, the Magoffin County Historical Society, Chapter 15 of the Disabled American Veterans,  the Homemakers Club, camping, gardening and their church.  Ruth Anna worked closely with her cancer victim’s support group and was a staunch supporter of the Relay For Life.

Ruth Anna and James exemplified model lives for all of us. They were active members of their church, helped and cared for family members, neighbors and others, participated in community affairs and yet found time to enjoy just being together.  Her passing in 2009 was a great loss for our community.