On Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019, Jim Dyess, loving father and faithful member of First Baptist Church Brookhaven, passed away at the age of 71. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and community.

Jim was born on Oct. 24, 1947, in Greenwood, Mississippi, and spent his childhood in the Mississippi Delta. He studied industrial engineering at Mississippi State and was inducted into Tau Beta Pi, an honorary engineering society, before graduating in 1969. Twenty-six years later, he watched with pride as both of his sons received the same honors at the same institution.

During his career, Jim traveled around the US as a gifted biomedical engineer. He enjoyed forestry and was a part-time cattle farmer, a trade he learned from one of the greats, Baker Rogers. In retirement, he kept his skills sharp and transitioned from fixing dialysis machines to fixing lawn mowers and almost anything else that you could come up with. He was certainly not known for his business model, though, as rebuilding and tuning your weed eater might only cost you the price of a blue plate lunch.

Jim had a huge heart for helping others and was humbled to receive the Brookhaven Exchange Club’s 2017 Golden Deeds award.

Jim is survived by his two sons, Matt and Mark Dyess, and a community grateful for his many years of friendship and service.

A celebration of his life will be held at Riverwood Family on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019, from 2 until 4 p.m.

In lieu of flowers or donations, Jim would probably just encourage everyone to do a kind deed for a neighbor or even a complete stranger.