NORTH VERNON
John Leland Jameson died on October 7, 2024, at Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Ind. He was 85 years old.
A memorial service was held on Friday, October 11, 2024, at Sawyer – Pickett Funeral &Cremation Service. Deacon Larry French officiated. A Rosary Service was conducted at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday with visitation from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.
John was born in Ronceverte, W. Va. on May 3, 1939. He grew up on the Greenbrier State Forest, in the shadow of Kate’s Mountain, where his father John Dillon Jameson served as superintendent of the state forest. John L. was a star varsity football and basketball player for the Green Devils of White Sulphur Springs High School.
He attended Concord University in Athens, W.Va., before transferring to West Virginia University. There, he was a member of the Mountaineers’ inaugural men’s soccer team, playing defensive back. It was while at WVU he met the love of his life, Joyce Jameson. They were married on June 1, 1963.
Upon graduating WVU in 1964, with a bachelor’s degree in English, he accepted a teaching and coaching position at Port Clinton High School, in Port Clinton, Ohio. In 1967, John then taught and coached near his hometown, at Clifton Forge High School in Clifton Forge, Va.
His dream was to always coach high school basketball in Indiana. That dream became reality in the summer of 1968, when he was hired by Bob Lochmueller at Tell City High School (Tell City, Ind.) to coach the freshmen boys basketball team. After going undefeated in the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference, which included the Evansville schools, he was elevated to varsity assistant coach.
John became a varsity basketball head coach in 1973, when he was hired at North Daviess High School in Elnora, Ind. His best season came in 1975 when the Cougars posted a 13-8 record. For 12 summers, starting in 1973, he coached at the Bob Knight Basketball Camp at Indiana University.
He then accepted the varsity boys basketball role at Mt. Vernon High School in Mt. Vernon, Ind. in the summer of 1975. His 1978 Wildcats team won the Princeton Sectional.
Jennings County High School hired John to be the Panthers’ varsity boys basketball coach in 1981 and he coached two seasons before retiring from coaching. He remained at JCHS as an English literature teacher for 11 years before assuming athletic director duties at the newly constructed Jennings County Middle School for seven years.
He retired from Jennings County Schools in 2000, but coaching and teaching remained his passion. For many years he led summer basketball camps at St. Mary’s Catholic School in North Vernon, Ind., donating all proceeds to the school. He also served as fifth-grade girls basketball coach at St. Mary’s for several years.
John was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting (grouse, pheasant, duck, deer, and rabbit) and fishing. He especially cherished visits to his family’s Moss Run Hunting Camp in the George Washington National Forest near Covington, Va.
Some of his favorite moments were spent at the log cabin he and Joyce had built at KenRay Lake, just east of Bedford, Ind., and watching the Boston Red Sox. He and Joyce did make it to Boston to see the Red Sox in person and saw them this past spring in Ft. Myers, Fla. He especially loved visiting Seaside, Fla., and its sandy beaches, with family every spring.
He authored several books including Kate’s Mountain and Beyond, Shooting the Perfect Jump Shot, and Tell City Basketball Marksmen – A Coach’s Notebook. He and Jack Butcher, of Loogootee, developed and marketed a jump shot poster in the early 80’s.
John could be best described as selfless, kind, fair, and reasonable. He was a parishioner of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and served several years as an active member of the Knights of Columbus and Kiwanis. He often volunteered for many causes and events in North Vernon.
He was preceded in death by his parents John and Frances (Morris) Jameson, and younger brother Theodore “Dale” Jameson.
He is survived by his wife, Joyce, his three children, Jay of Houston, Jeff of Louisville, and Jill of Atlanta, nephew Adam Jameson (Lyndsey), nieces Stacie Austin (Steve), Holly Hargrove Archer, Molly Coulter (Butch), Jennifer Hudson (Damon), and Katie Hovatter (Paul). Also surviving are sister-in-law Patricia Berthy (Tom) and brothers-in-law Mike Gamble (Becky) and Stephen Gamble (Camille).
Rosary started at 3:30 and visitation was from 4 to 7 p.m. at Sawyer Pickett Funeral Services.
Memorial contributions in John’s memory may be made to St. Mary’s Catholic School in North Vernon.
