Written by Jeff Gable, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer, published 2/12/08
Former prep sport standout, Darlington coach and Rome businessman James White "Jim" Doss died Monday morning at his home in Waleska. He was 78 years old.
Doss, the father of Rome City Commissioner Jamie Doss, was inducted into the Rome-Floyd Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. He was known to many in Greater Rome for his work in youth sports, with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and with his church.
Jamie Doss said organizations like the FCA were near to his father's heart. "He was really an advocate of character-building," Jamie Doss said. "That was a big thing to him. He loved competition, but he believed strongly that character and integrity were a person's most valuable assets."
Doss played football at Rome Boys High School, where he was an All-State selection in 1946. He accepted a scholarship to the University of Georgia, and, after taking classes at UGA, he returned to Darlington School in Rome for additional college prep courses.
He then went on to The Citadel, where he played football and earned a degree in health and physical education. As a distinguished military college graduate, he was listed in the 1952 edition of Who's Who Among America's Colleges and Universities.
Doss was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, and, after his Air Force stint, he went to the University of Kentucky to attend graduate school and help coach and recruit for the Wildcats' football team.
Doss returned to Darlington in 1957 after completing his master's degree, and he taught math while serving as the Tigers' football coach for nine years. He also helped coach the wrestling program for five years. While at Darlington, Doss served as president of the Mid-South Athletic Conference and he helped found the Darlington chapter of FCA.
"He was a Christian man first and foremost, and the FCA was very important to him," said his brother, Clayton Doss.
Doss worked as a financial adviser after leaving Darlington in the 1960s and, even though he was no longer in the education field, he and his wife, Jane, worked closely with kids at numerous camps.
"He loved his family and he also loved working with kids," Jamie Doss said Monday. "He coached youth football and both he and my mother worked at a summer camp almost every year. He was a very positive, stable influence for a lot of people, and he was a terrific role model for my brothers and me."
Doss was active in the First Presbyterian Church in Rome, where Saturday's memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes or The Gideons.
Doss is survived by his wife of 53 years, Jane; three sons, Jamie, Jeff and Jerry; and one brother, Clayton.
