James Harrison McBride passed this life on October 24, 2022 at the age of 86. He was preceded in death by his parents Isaac Buford McBride and Alma Rogers McBride of McMinnville, sister Margaret McBride Allen of Manchester and brothers Charles Buford McBride of Tullahoma and Bobby McBride of McMinnville. He is survived by his wife of nearly 67 years, Juliette Ann Thaxton McBride; sisters Shirley McBride Durham of McMinnville, Brenda McBride Wachter of North Carolina and brother Johnny Dale McBride (Linda Gayle) of Lynchburg; son James Shawn McBride of Tullahoma, daughters Joy Shannon McBride Smith (Patrick) and Juliette Suzanne McBride Luttrell of Tullahoma; granddaughter Juliette Amanda Anderson (Scott), grandsons Joshua James Talley, Mitchell Harrison Ghea and Jack L. Phillips, Jr.; four great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. He was born on December 8, 1935 in Coffee County, Tennessee. As a teenager, he worked in Crouch’s Drug Store in McMinnville for the late Sen. Ernest Crouch. It was there that he decided to pursue a career in pharmacy. After graduating from McMinnville Central High School in 1953, he received his undergraduate education at Middle Tennessee State College (now MTSU) and studied pharmacy at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis and Howard College (now Samford University) in Birmingham, Alabama. He became a registered pharmacist after graduating from Howard in 1958 and began work at City Drug Store in McMinnville. He later worked at City Drug Store in Fayetteville, Tennessee before moving to Tullahoma in 1965. There he began work with his brother Charles, Harold Offutt and Marion Richardson at Medical Building Pharmacy, Taylors Pharmacy and Westside Pharmacy. They were later joined by James’ and Charles’ younger brother Johnny, and they, along with Mr. Offutt, purchased the stores from Mr. Richardson. They later opened Medical Arts Pharmacy on North Jackson Street. In 1995 they sold the stores to Revco, which was later acquired by CVS. He worked for CVS at the Tullahoma and later the Decherd locations until he retired from full-time work in 2011. He continued to work part-time at Baker Brothers Pharmacy in Manchester until entering full retirement in 2015, finishing a career as a pharmacist spanning 57 years. He married the love of his life, Juliette, on December 31, 1955. They adopted a son, Shawn, in 1965 and twin daughters, Suzanne and Shannon, in 1968. They also helped raise their grandchildren Amanda and Joshua. He dearly loved his family and always went above and beyond to help them. He played tennis in college and enjoyed bowling with his wife and friends as a young adult. In retirement he took up fly fishing with his good friends Jim Whoric and Bro. Jim Fields. But his favorite pastime was golf, which he often played when he had a Wednesday off with his brother Johnny. He was also an avid follower of University of Tennessee athletics, and he and his brother Charles were season tickets holders for UT football for decades. He was an active member of Wesley Heights United Methodist Church for nearly 50 years. He sang in the choir and held nearly every office in the church over the years. Visitation with the family will be Friday, October 28 from 5:00 until 8:00 pm at Kilgore Funeral Home in Tullahoma. Funeral services will be held Saturday, October 29 at 11:00 am at Wesley Heights United Methodist Church in Tullahoma with burial following at Bascom Cemetery in the community of Vervilla near Morrison, Tennessee.
The family requests that memorial donations be made to the church or the Lewy Body Dementia Association.
Kilgore Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
