James O. Kapp

James O. Kapp
November 29, 1928 – August 21, 2017

James Kapp passed away peacefully at Friends Village on August 21st after a brief illness.
Jim was born in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. He moved to Woodstown with his mother and brother when he was nine years old. At Woodstown High School he was involved in sports and was captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams in his senior year, and earned eleven varsity letters. He was a graduate of the Woodstown High School Class of 1947. He enjoyed duck hunting, rabbit hunting, and being outdoors. Jim was known as “Kappy”.

Jim enlisted in the United States Armed Forces, from June 1947 to June 1950. He married his first wife Marie, and had a daughter. He was in a detached service due to his participation on the football team, at the Munich, Germany base. Jim was an intercept radio operator in Scheyrn, Germany. He returned to New Jersey and worked as an airline steward for Eastern Air Lines as he waited to begin his education at Temple University on a football scholarship. During summer breaks at Temple, he worked as a lifeguard at Wilson’s Lake. Jim remarried in 1953. He played football at Temple and earned his Bachelors in Education in 1955 and Master’s Degree in 1956. He began his career as a Physical Education teacher at Woodstown High School in 1955. Jim moved to Colonial Manor in West Deptford Township, NJ in 1959, where he lived with his wife Margaret and their three daughters.

Jim coached football at Woodstown for 5 years and was a track coach for 32 years. He finished his track career with his Woodies winning six Tri-County titles. The Woodies won 44 consecutive dual meets without a loss, from 1970 through 1974, including three unbeaten seasons and four straight Tri-County titles. Jim loved coaching track and enjoyed his teams. He retired from teaching in 1991.

Jim spent the first 20 years of his retirement playing blackjack, fishing, reading, and watching college football and basketball. He lived in Mantua, NJ with his partner, Pat. Jim moved to Friends Village at Woodstown in 2012 as his dementia flared up.

He is survived by his daughters Linda Heritage (John), Boni Lee Kane (Craig), Cindy Mendenhall (John Miller), and Penny DeGeorge (John); his partner, Pat Snyder; grandchildren Chris and David Heritage, Jess Mendenhall, and Megan DeGeorge; and five great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his mother, Dicia Shiveler, brother, Norman Lee Wilson, stepfather, Norman Shiveler, and his former wife Margaret Schreinert.

Thank you to Patience Oakes, Mary Kopec, Marion, and Rebecca for your kindness.

Come celebrate 88 great years Thursday Sept. 14 from 1-2 p.m. at Daley Life Celebration Studio where there will be a service at 2 p.m. Interment Eglington Cemetery.