James A. Cullimore

Today (January 17^th) is my Father’s birthday.  I am thinking that he would be very pleased and honored that so many of his posterity carry his name.  The latest is Foster James Cullimore, the son of Tyson and Jessica.  Congratulations Tyson and Jessica.

I hope that as your sons who carry this name (James) grow to manhood, you will share with them what a great man they are named after.  Sometime in the near future, I will send more details, but for those who did not know James A. well here are a few tidbits – in no particular order:

·         James was born in humble circumstances in Linden, Utah but had a good life growing up. 

·         He was taught how to work by an industrious father and was taught balance in life by a mother who lived as she taught.

·         He was one of twelve children.  He worked at manual labor from a very early age.

·         He learned the love of merchandising from the experience he had in his father’s Mercantile store which still stands at the food of Linden hill.

·         He, for many years (and maybe still does) held the record for the most strawberries picked in one day in Utah.

·         He was a practical joker and that characteristic carried through his adult life.  He learned this, by the way, from his father.

·         He attended BYU and was the student body president his senior year.

·         He worked his way through  BYU as the janitor of the old women’s gym – a building which still stands today across the street from the site of the old lower campus.

·         He met Grace, my mother, at BYU and they were married shortly after he graduated.

·         He went to Graduate school at the New York University School of Retailing and he and mother both worked and barely had enough to live on.

·         While in New York they were, of course, active in the Church.  They met many people who later became known throughout the church, like the father and mother of President Henry Eyring, the Marriott’s, and other people who became prominent.

·         Mom and Dad lived in Chicago for a while – that is where I was born.  He worked for Gimbells, a very prominent department store at the time.

·         From Chicago Mom and Dad moved to Sioux City, Iowa.  Where, as a very young man, Dad was called to be the Branch President.  President and Sister Cullimore became the nurturers for the members and the home away from home for the missionaries.

·         From Sioux City Mom and Dad moved to Oklahoma City.  It was here where they began to sink their roots.  Luella and Nancy were both born in Oklahoma City.

·         When I talk of Dad, it is very difficult to separate the input of Mom – especially in matters pertaining to Church and the Family – they were pretty much one.

·         Speaking of this – Mother had health issues, including heart problems, diabetes and many other things.  Dad took good care of her.  He was solicitous when it was appropriate and he kept his distance when the need for that was apparent.

·         Dad was a good Father – he always set a good example.  His greatest sermons were not preached from the pulpit – they were reflections of the way in which he lived his life.  He was not a hypocrite.  We was not perfect, but he never indicated that he was.

·         Frankly, Dad was a pretty hard task master.  I started to work in his Warehouse when I was 12 years old and I worked in fairly menial and labor intensive jobs through high school.

·         Dad expected me (and I assume Luella and Nancy) to do our best, and it seemed that no matter how well we did he expected more.  It was a great motivating factor.

·         Dad and mother made their home available for us and our friends – none of whom were members of the Church.

·         Dad and Mom were respected by all – from our friends to business associates, to members of the Church.

·         While dad was sort of a task master, he was always willing and anxious to let us have the good things of life.  While he made me work to pay for a car, he did everything he could to make sure that I got it.

·         From the minute Dad and Mom moved to Oklahoma, they became the center pillar of the Church.  Through their example, some families who had felt they were “above” the lowly member of the Church came into activity.

·         From a very small branch which met in various rented buildings, the Church has grown to three or four stakes in the western part of the State and there is a temple in Oklahoma City. 

·         James A. Cullimore and his wife were the foundation of this growth.

·         At the advice of an Apostle, Dad turned down a job as the Merchandise manager for ZCMI and remained in Oklahoma to fulfill the destiny and purpose for which the Lord had sent them there.

·         James A Cullimore was a very successful retailer.  He moved to Oklahoma City to work for John A. Brown Company.  This was like ZCMI.  As I recall, Mrs. Brown was a Dillard.  He worked his way up in this company.

·         Right after World War II ended, Dad began his own business:  Cullimore’s Home Furnishings.  The business was a success from the beginning.

·         Dad became known among those who sold to him as the Merchandising Prince of the South West.

·         Dad was liked by those who sold to him and those to whom he sold.  A unique situation.

·         At the peak of his success, Dad was called as a Mission President.  Things were different then – not the system they have now.  It was a shock – but he accepted without any reservation.  At a pretty high risk he left the business in my hands – a very inexperienced 26 year old.

·         From that calling Dad served as a member of the Church Welfare Committee

·         Then he was called as an Assistant To The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  He was the first man to be called as a general authority outside the Intermountain-Arizona-California area.  To say it was a surprise would be an understatement of the first order.  But, again, he accepted.  This meant that he sold his business at a significant loss and moved to Salt Lake City. 

·         Dad was a beloved leader – whether it was as a Branch President, as a Stake President, as a Mission President, or as a General Authority.

·         Dad was a  “common” man.  He never felt he was better than other people and he served with passion and love.

·         Dad learned the lesson of being balanced very well – he was likely the most realistic and practical and balanced man I have ever met. 

·         He never became full of himself.  He was a great example of one of the lines in Kipling’s Pome “If.”  He could talk with crowds and keep his virtue and walk with Kings without losing the common touch.  And he did this often.

·         Whatever Dad set his heart into doing, he did it well.

·         He was a dynamo.

·         He was a true disciple of Christ

·         He was a man to be emulated.

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