Captain James "Jimmy" B. Guthrie

Captain James "Jimmy" B. Guthrie, US Army Retired, 88, of Beaufort, North Carolina, passed away on Thursday, December 15, 2022, at Carteret Health Care.

His funeral service will be held at 2 p.m., Wednesday, December 21st at First Free Will Baptist Church in Beaufort. Interment will follow at Oceanview Cemetery in Beaufort. The family will receive friends an hour prior to the service.

Captain Jimmy, as he was known by many, came up during the grim and hardscrabble days of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Born in Craven County, NC, and growing up in Beaufort, NC, he often found work on the waterfront doing whatever was available to young folks back then. In 1952 he married the love of his life, the late Hazel Moore Guthrie. It was a marriage that would last more than 67 years. In November of 1952, he enlisted in the United States Army and served in the 40th Infantry Division in Korea during the Korean War, rising to the rank of sergeant. During the war he served as a rifleman, machine gunner, and drill instructor. He was awarded the National Defense Medal and Korean Service Medals, the United Nations Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.

Following the war, Captain Jimmy returned to his love of fishing and the water. He served as a mate and pilot on Menhaden vessels along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts from 1956 until 1966, earning his master’s license in 1957. After leaving the fishing industry in 1966, he started a new career in the federal service as an aircraft engineering mechanic at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. After 11 years in that position, he returned to his great love of the water and served as a Master with the N.C. State Ferry System in 1977 and in 1981 began his long and fruitful career with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. With the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he served as a Master on various sidecast dredges. He authored the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers publication “Guidelines for Sidecast Dredging” which highlights some of his perfected dredging techniques that are still in practice. He retired in 2005 with 36 years of creditable and honorable service.

Captain Jimmy lived a wonderful life full of love and he was loved deeply by many.  Though he rejoices with the Angels and his greatest love, his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, he will be missed dearly by his many family and friends. He is survived by a sister,  Nancy McKee; and his daughter, Denise Warren; grandchildren, Keith Lewis Jr. and wife  Jaime, Lindsey Rhodes and husband Seth, Nicholas Lewis, Jamie Varnell and husband  John, Lacey Lewis, Trey Parker and wife Megan, and Hannah Warren; great-grandchildren, Katelyn and Christian Lewis, Ashlyn, Olivia, Joshua, and Caleb Rhodes, Maddux Lewis, Benson and Lila Varnell, Addison and Kori Moyer, James Parker IV; son-in-law, Keith Lewis Sr.; former son-in-law, Derris Warren; and his beloved cat, JJ.

Captain Jimmy was preceded in death by his parents, Walter and Ida Mae Guthrie (Wade); step-father, George Wade; sisters, Sidney Mae Billings and Colleen Rouse; his beloved wife, Hazel Moore Guthrie; and daughters, Debra Parker and Deana Lewis.

Family and friends are welcome to submit online condolences at www.mundenfuneralhome.net

Arrangements by Munden Funeral Home & Crematory in Morehead City, NC.