James Oliver Pigg

James Oliver Pigg, son of Dennie and Verlie (Walters) Pigg, was born in Paintsville, Kentucky on February 24, 1924. “Oliver” was the fifth of ten children. The family was poor and it being the depression resources were very limited. His father operated a general store and although there was enough food for the large family to eat there was little money left over for extras. There were years when Oliver’s only gift on Christmas morning was a single orange. Due to his natural industriousness Oliver was able to chart a new course in life in which he could truly be called a self-made man. 

After graduating from high school, Oliver went to Lansing, Michigan where he obtained a job assembling aircraft components. A few short months later he was drafted into the Army. After basic training he was packed onto the converted ocean liner SS Queen Elizabeth along with several thousand other soldiers and sent to Europe. Following further training in England he landed in France three weeks after D-Day. He served as a machine-gunner in the Ninth Infantry Division, Forty-Seventh Regiment and was involved in the Battle-of-the-Bulge. Shortly afterwards he was briefly hospitalized for trench-foot, a malady that affected many American servicemen in Europe during the winter of 1944-45. During the war he was awarded the bronze star for rescuing his gravely wounded platoon leader during a sudden artillery bombardment. He was in combat for many weeks and on one night time occasion fired off several boxes of ammunition having first carefully removed the tracers from the belt so as not to easily give away his position. On another nighttime occasion he was convinced that he heard a noise and sensed movement a few yards in front of his foxhole. Thinking it could have been an approaching enemy soldier, he prepared to throw a grenade. Fortunately, no further threat arose but it took some time for him to find and reinsert the pin back into the grenade. 

Oliver also was proud of being among the first American ground troops into Germany crossing over the heavily damaged Ludendorff bridge at Remagen shortly before it collapsed into the Rhine river. He frequently noted that he carried a .30 caliber machine gun, or its tripod, all the way across France and into Germany. After the war he returned to his small hometown in Kentucky and for the next three years worked in the family store. One day a friend who had moved to Akron came back home for a visit and advised Oliver that the rubber companies were hiring and that he should come to Akron and apply. He was promptly hired and worked at Goodyear for more than 35 years in various departments. In addition to working at Goodyear, along with his brother-in-law, John Dunn he operated the “J. & J.” convenience shop on Brown Street in Akron in the mid 1950’s. In those days before major supermarkets made an appearance, the neighborhood ice cream shop was an important place in the local community. Oliver and John sold ice cream, candy, tobacco products and other sundry items. Many a neighborhood child had their thirst quenched on a hot summer day by a milkshake made at the J. & J. Although he enjoyed operating the store, Oliver decided to work exclusively at Goodyear after being robbed at gunpoint one afternoon. He could see all the cylinders in the revolver were full and thought “I made it through months of combat in Europe just to be killed in my own store back home.” Fortunately, the robber took the cash from the register and ran out of the store. (Clearly no genius, the thief was shortly afterwards caught by the police. At the police station Oliver was brought in to identify him but before he had the opportunity to do so, the robber blurted out “Yeah, that’s him. That’s the guy I robbed.”) 

During his limited free time and in retirement Oliver enjoyed golfing and bowling and was an excellent contract bridge player. He also kept a yearly garden of which he was justifiably proud. Oliver was a long time member of Covenant United Presbyterian Church and served as an elder for several terms. He later transferred his membership to Stow Presbyterian Church where he made many new friends and enjoyed the fellowship of the weekly men’s “brown bagger’s” group at church. 

He was preceded in death by his wife of 42 years, Ruth; step-son, Harold Elliott; brothers, Chester, Walter and Ottis Pigg; and his sisters, Evelyn West, Imogene Lewis, Ernestine Whitaker, Ivory Rose and Jennie Lee Novak. He also was predeceased by his special friend, Edna Bishop who brought him both companionship and happiness in his later years. He is survived by his daughter-in-law, Shirley Elliott; grandson, Michael (Susan) Elliott of Akron; and great-grandson, Andrew (Cassie) Elliott of Columbus. He is also survived by great-grandson, Thomas Elliott (Katie) and great-great-granddaughter, Eloise Elliott whose whereabouts are unknown to the family. He also leaves his brother, Glenn Pigg of Naples, Florida; sister-in-law, Jane Pigg of Griffith, Indiana; special nieces, Karen Bensonhaver of Circleville, Ohio and Larissa Blackledge of Copley; and several other nieces and nephews. Oliver was a good, honest and kind man. 

Friends and family will be received Monday, from 10 to 11 a.m. at Hopkins Lawver Funeral Home, 547 Canton Road (Route 91), Akron/Ellet, Ohio 44312, followed by a funeral service at 11 a.m. with Rev. Dr. David Weyrick officiating. Burial will follow at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Akron, where military rites will be conducted. The family suggests memorials to the Alzheimer’s Association, 70 West Streetsboro Street, Suite 201, Hudson, OH 44236.