James "Jim" Russell Crooks

James "Jim" Russell Crooks, 92, of Lake James passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at Grace Ridge Retirement Community.

Born September 29, 1933 in Burke County, NC, he was the son of the late John Cuba Crooks Sr. and Mary Margaret Browning Crooks.

Jim was born during the depression years of the 1930's. In an autobiography of his life he had written for a college course in 1974 the opening paragraph stated "I was born in 1933, the seventh child of the Crooks family soon to be followed by three more siblings for a total of 1O children. My life as a child was uneventful, unless you call the hardships of not enough of about anything you could think of to go around for this large family".

Learning to hunt and fish at an early age to help support the family stuck with Jim as he was an avid outdoorsman his entire life. He was proud of what he did to help his family in those years, eventually running Crooks Landing, the family business on Lake James.

Hard work and determination learned in his youth guided Jim throughout his life. Jim always worked hard and was dedicated to any challenge he came up against. Jim was also a proud Army veteran. He often said that his stint in the military was one of the best things to ever happen to him.

In 1953 Jim married his childhood sweetheart and the love of his life, Dorothy "Dot" Dellinger. Jim and Dot moved to California in 1959. In his autobiography he wrote "We arrived in California on Labor Day; we had no friends and no idea where to look for jobs or anything else. We just started asking random people where we should go and most said to go to Orange County and try there first. They were right, and soon we had jobs and many friends. As most young people do, we got caught up in the whirlwind life of California in the 1960's. We tried everything, snow skiing soon became our favorite sport with friends."

Jim also often spoke fondly of his and Dot's travels throughout Europe, always full of stories about the sights they visited and things they did. Some of the excerpts from his autobiography noted "We traveled to Amsterdam, Holland with all the dykes, windmills and Marken Island. From there we proceeded through Belgium and crossed the English Channel to London, England visiting Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. From London we traveled to Paris, France to sightsee Paris and visit the Louvre Museum." In another excerpt Jim noted" We drove through the Austrian mountains on our way to Italy. Florance was our first Italian stop and I most remember the market places and olive groves. After leaving Florance we arrived in Rome. We toured the Vatican, the catacombs and many ruins. Like all tourist in Italy, we walked up the steps of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and rode the gondolas from shop to shop in Venice. We left Italy and traveled into Switzerland; I remember Switzerland for the stone roof houses, waterfalls and snow in the Brenner Pass in June."

After Jim retired from Alpha Beta Foods in 1992 where he held several positions over his career, he and Dot returned to North Carolina. They had purchased some property on Linville River at Lake James in 1977, which they eventually developed into Linville River's End Campground and operated it for over 30 years.

Jim is survived by his sister, Anna Laura Jaynes of Charleston, TN and numerous nieces, nephews and extended family.

In addition to his parents, Jim was preceded in death by Dot, his beloved wife of 58 years. Also preceding him in death are his siblings, Naomi Crooks Johnson, Nancy Crooks Newton, Louise Crooks Stamey, Earl Monroe Crooks, Pauline Crooks Yancey, John Cuba Crooks Jr., Carl Cuba Crooks and Mary Martha Crooks Cooper.

The family will receive friends from 12 to 1 p.m., Friday, April 24, 2026 at Sossoman Funeral Home. The graveside service will follow at 2 p.m. at Oak Grove Baptist Church Cemetery with Rev. Brad Browning officiating. Military honors will be provided by the NC National Guard.

The family would like to thank Grace Ridge Retirement Community and especially the Memory Care staff for the wonderful care given to Jim.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Oak Grove Baptist Church, 1065 Paddy's Creek Road, Nebo, NC 28761.

Sossoman Funeral Home and Crematory Center is assisting the family with the arrangements.