| Graduation Year | Class of 1970 |
| Date of Passing | Jul 03, 2009 |
| About | Jimmy accomplished much and was well thought of. His death was sudden and unexpected. He is missed by many. This memorial was sent out by Jimmy's work supervisor at the time of his death: It is a with a very heavy heart and constant watering in my eyes that I sit in my office on this holiday honoring our Country that I write one of the hardest notes that I ever have written. As some of you may already know and as others of you will either find out today when you read this email or Monday morning when you come back to work, we lost one of the finest husband, fathers, son, employee, friend, supervisor, colleague, teacher, etc., that we will ever know. I received a call yesterday evening about 5:35pm from Sandy Paige, wife of Jimmy Paige. Sandy informed me that Jimmy had suffered a heart attack and had passed away while they were visiting their daughter Jae Dee in Dallas yesterday afternoon. Me, like many of you were probably shocked to hear that our friend of only a mere 57 years of age had passed on to a better place. My world turned upside down in a matter of minutes. For as I have told some of you already, AEP has many great employees but their was only one Jimmy Paige. For me, Jimmy was far more that a colleague. A man that I met over 14 years ago while I worked at West Texas Utilities in Abilene. Jimmy was working in the local office in Tuscola as the area manager and Terry Hesseltine introduced me and told me that was one of the smartest men that I will ever know. From that day forward, Jimmy and I became friends. Terry was right, not only was Jimmy one of the smartest men that I would ever come across, he also one of the biggest hearted men you will ever meet. For if you asked Jimmy for anything or to do anything, if he did not know how or could not do something, he would spend whatever time it took figuring it out for you. About four years ago I got the opportunity to hire Jimmy. I remember the question and the answer like it was yesterday. I asked Jimmy, why do you want this job? His response was, I have learned a lot over my career and I have learned a lot about AEP and the people that make it spin. I am tired of traveling as much as I do and I want to stay at home, work with you and make Texas a better part of AEP. I talked to Jimmy about everything, golf, work, projects, personal matters, process improvement, computers, BBQ, beer, pizza, and anything else of which you can think. I have so many Jimmy stories, they would fill up an entire notebook. I have learned so much from this man and there were tons of things left to learn. I have done by best to not only send this to Jimmy's staff, the Operations Support Staff, and any other lives Jimmy either touched or was in the process of touching. If I have missed anyone, please feel free to send this note to them. I again have just spoken with Sandy. The services for Jimmy are pending at this time. As soon as I have that information, I will pass it along to you. Please keep Sandy, Jae Dee, his Mother, his sister and his brother and the rest of his family in your prayers. As Jimmy said it best to me the last time we talked on Thursday afternoon; "...I have enjoyed talking to you man, as I always do. I am shutting down now and I will talk to you again next week. Have a safe and happy holiday. Adios!!! JP |
