Remembering James Henry Tate, a victim of the 2019 Beauregard tornado
James Henry Tate, 86, always asked how you were feeling. It was often his first question, said daughter Derria Franks, the oldest of his six children.
He was a quiet but uplifting and funny man. He didn’t yell because could get his point across with a look. He never had a mean thing to say about anybody, but he was always cracking wise jokes, Derria said.
It’s been a year since anyone has heard one of James’ quips. His family is still coping with his death in the EF-4 tornado that cut through Beauregard, killing 23 people.
Born in 1932, James grew up in Beauregard as the youngest boy in a family of 11 children. He’d leave Alabama and spend three decades working in a lighting fixtures factory for Aluminum Louvre in the hamlet of Plainview, New York, located on Long Island.
After retiring, James returned home to Beauregard in July 1995. His children were still in New York, but the move was the fulfillment of a plan long discussed. His brother, nieces and nephews were right next to him as he planned to live out his remaining years on Lee County Road 39.
But James couldn’t stay retired. He was always busy working, so staying at home wasn’t his thing. He took a job at Auburn University’s Veterinary clinic for about five years before finally getting out of the workforce, Derria said.
Family was important to James. In addition to his six children, he had 19 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. Trips to the park, cookouts and picnics were common. Even after moving back to Beauregard, his children living in New York would visit him for family reunions and other functions, Derria said.
“He was the only one of his siblings who moved away,” she said. “He made a point of us getting to know the family. ...Myself and my sisters we each took a turn once a year — we’d go at different times to visit him. We talked to him often.”
James was one of ten people killed in the storm bound together by blood, marriage or close friendship — they bore the last names Jones, Robinson, Stenson and Tate, according to the Opelika-Auburn News. They accounted for nearly half of the deaths that day.
His children plan to return to Beauregard but not to mark the storm’s anniversary. Derria said she misses her father’s smile, his positive outlook and those wisecracks.
A year later, the family is still trying to process and accept James’ death. Derria often goes to pick up the phone to call her dad, only to remember that he can’t answer. He’s gone.
“I do it all the time,” she said.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.