James Henry King Jr.

SMYRNA, DE - James Henry King, Jr. "Jim" age 49, of Smyrna, Delaware, passed away on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Jim was born on April 3rd, 1974 in Chester, Pennsylvania to Shirley (Talley) King and James Henry King, Sr. He was raised primarily in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania with his younger brother, Glen. In junior high, he met Greg Gasslein, who would become his life-long best friend and brother from another mother. He graduated in 1992 from Garnet Valley High School and later graduated from Wilmington College with a bachelor’s degree in Aviation Management in 1997. Jim’s greatest passion was supporting his children. He could often be found on the sidelines of a sporting event, whether rugby, lacrosse, or football. He was an avid fan of the Doylestown Rugby Football Club and was a very strong supporter of equality in women’s sports. Beyond sports, he also supported his children’s interests in theater, FFA, and Doctor Who. Despite having friends wherever he went, he claimed to prefer his four-legged (and three-legged) friends to the two-legged kind. While at home, he could often be found in his “home office” in the living room, usually watching TV with one of the dogs or the cat lounging in the “buddy chair”. Though he was somewhat of a homebody, he enjoyed traveling to Florida, Utah, and parts of Europe for rugby, his yearly “bro-cation” with his family and friends from work and church, or finding the closest Wawa to get his Mocha Wake-up Coffee. Jim was a proud military veteran. He initially joined the Pennsylvania National Guard to help pay for college. He later transferred to the Delaware Air National Guard where he was commissioned after he graduated from college. He became a C-130 pilot and had five deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He flew over 1,000 hours before he retired from DANG in 2012 to spend more time with his family. After leaving the Guard, he returned to school to pursue a career that would not tie him to a desk. He graduated from Delaware Technical & Community College with a degree in Civil Engineering with a focus on Surveying. He worked for DelDOT and Extreme Measures Surveying before he found his home with the Becker Morgan Group. The survey team there became not just co-workers but friends and he often brought home stories of their adventures together. Jim felt though that work was just something necessary to allow you to support your true passions. He often said he looked forward to the day he could become a full-time stay-at-home rugby dad - traveling around to all of the tournaments and helping to manage them. Jim is survived by his wife, Kate Londre King, and his children, Elisabeth Anne, Rebecca Lynn, Reaghan Rinns, and Jameson Brandt King, all of Smyrna, Delaware. He is also survived by his parents, Shirley Talley King and James Henry King, Sr., of Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania, his brother, Glen King, sister-in-law Elisa King, and niece Collette King, of Bellefonte, Delaware and his Grandmother, Blanche (Achuff) Talley of Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania. Jim is also survived by his mother-in-law, Margaret Flanagan of Bradenton, Florida, father-in-law, Kent Londre of Danville, California, and brother-in-law, Justin Londre, sister-in-law Flora Londre, niece Savannah Londre, and nephew Mason Londre, all of Danville, California. He is also survived by cousins, extended family, and friends. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to Elite Girls Rugby League (www.egrl.org) or Tomi’s Vested K-9s (www.tvk9s.org). Memorial services will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at the Clayton Fire Hall, located at 300 East Street in Clayton, Delaware. A luncheon will follow afterward (please no ties, he would hate that).