James Jordan Plaster, Sr., 86, a lifelong resident of Autaugaville, Alabama, passed away on Wednesday, December 12, 2012, after a brief illness.

He was born on September 23, 1926, to James Wilson and Nellie Jordan Plaster, in Autaugaville.

Educated in Autaugaville public schools, he graduated from Hicks Memorial High School in 1944. He then left home to serve in the United States Navy on the USS Vincennes in the Pacific theatre until the end of World War II. After the war, he continued his formal education, graduating from Auburn University in 1950 with B.S. degree in agriculture administration.

Mr. Plaster married Lorena Woodham in Brundidge, Alabama, on December 27, 1953. This union was blessed with two sons, James Jordan, Jr., and Robert Frank. Mr. Plaster was an active life member of Ivy Creek Methodist Church, and he and his wife took care to raise their sons in a Christian home.

Returning to Autaugaville, Mr. Plaster started a diversified farming operation career that spanned over 50 years. His farming operation consisted of cotton, corn, livestock, timber, small grain, and other row crops. In his early career, he ran custom cotton picking and hay baling operations in other parts of Alabama and Mississippi. In addition to farming, he worked as a lobbyist for the Alabama Rural Electric Cooperative in Washington from 1970 to 1974.

In 1974, he was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives for District 82, serving Autauga County and parts of Elmore, Lowndes, and Montgomery Counties. He served on the Ways & Means Committee, the Agriculture Committee, and the Joint House/Senate Financial Committee. In 1979, he was appointed Executive Secretary of the Alabama State Soil and Water Conservation Committee. He served in this capacity and continued his farming operation until his retirement in November of 1992.

Over the course of his career, he received many state and national awards including:

1972: 2nd Place in the National Corn Growers Association Yield Contest;

1975: Farm/City Committee Award for Agriculture Leadership;

1976: "Man of the Year" Award from the Alabama Crop Improvement Association for service to Alabama agriculture;

1990: National Association of Conservation Districts Professional Service Award presented in San Diego, California;

1992: Soil Conservationist of the Year by Alabama Wildlife Federation;

Additionally, he was an active member of the Alabama Cattlemen's Association, Farm Bureau, a life member of the Alabama Wildlife Federation, a Charter Member of the Autaugaville Lions Club, and a Melvin Jones Fellow of the Lions International Foundation.

Mr. Plaster was preceded in death by his parents and by his first wife, Lorena Woodham Plaster.

He is survived by his wife of forty years, Marcia Vann Bowers Plaster; sons, James Jordan Plaster, Jr. (Jenny) of Tuscaloosa and Robert Frank Plaster (Betty) of Millbrook; grandsons, Harry Adam Shumaker II (Elizabeth) of Tuscaloosa, John Bledsoe Plaster of Washington DC, and James Leon Plaster (Codi) of Auburn; sister, Grace Plaster Gage (Roy) of Houston TX; and brother, Frank Asbury Plaster (Linda) of Autaugaville.

Pallbearers will be Harry Adam Shumaker, John Bledsoe Plaster, James Leon Plaster, Clint Wilson Plaster, Ben Eugene Plaster, James Rex Gage, Glenn Gregory Gage, and Michael Lindley Gage. Honorary pallbearers will be the members of the Autaugaville Lions Club.

Visitation will be held Friday night, December 14 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Ridout's Chapel in Prattville.

The funeral service will be held Saturday, December 15 at 2:00 p.m. at Ivy Creek United Methodist Church in Autaugaville, with burial to follow in Ivy Creek Cemetery.

Montgomery Advertiser, December 15, 2012