Our friend and fellow DELA VP James Alan (Jim) Botelle, passed away on December 20, 2024. After suffering a stroke in November, he experienced a series of ups and downs, finally passing away at age 72 after multiple hospitalizations.
Jim's great passion was singing, especially barbershop music. He was a proud member of the Barbershop Harmony Society for 37 years. At his passing, Jim was a member of both the Old Line Statesmen Chorus of Carroll County, MD and the Chorus of the Chesapeake, Dundalk, MD. Jim loved nothing more than great harmony and lent his wonderful baritone voice to numerous quartets through the years, most notably Soul Purpose, Gentlemen's Blend, the Henchmen and Bayside Harmony.
One of Jim's proudest moments was when Gentlemen's Blend won not one, but three novice championships: 1999 Novice Quartet Champion at the Rahway Valley, NJ Chapter's 38th annual competition, the 1999 Western Division Novice Quartet Champion and the 2000 Mid-Atlantic District Novice Quartet Champion.
Jim fulfilled one of the items on his bucket list when he participated as part of the quartet in the Glyndon Area Players' production of The Music Man in 2023.
Jim attended Essex Community College and Towson State University. After graduation, he worked for the Carroll County Times as a writer and later was editor/writer for Carroll Families and Carroll Seniors magazines. He retired from the Times in 2009.
Jim is survived by his wife, Pat, two children, Lauren Botelle and Christopher Botelle (Susan), grandchildren Luke, Blake and Collin, all of Reisterstown,MD, two sisters, Lesley Lookingbill (Ron) of Aberdeen, MD and Donna Marshall (Steve) of Abingdon, MD and several nieces and nephews.
A celebration of Jim's life was held Saturday, January 25, 2025 at 11:00 A.M., with Pastor Jen Eschliman officiating, at the Reisterstown United Methodist Church, 246 Main Street, Reisterstown, MD 21136.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Jim's memory to the Harmony Foundation's Keep a Melody Ringing program at https://www.harmonyfoundation.org/memorial-giving
|
