James William Banks II, M.D., 93, of Union, WV, celebrated his Hallelujah Day entering into the arms of his Lord and Savior, Thursday, January 8, 2015.
Jay was born in Raleigh, WV, on October 14, 1921, the son of Dr. McRae C. Banks and Caroline Caperton Banks. He was raised in Raleigh and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1939. He attended VPI and Concord College, graduating from West Virginia University in 1943. After World War II service in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman, he graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine in 1949, then returned to duty in the Navy as a Medical Officer. He continued to serve his country in the U.S. Naval Reserve until 1961. Jay returned to Raleigh County in 1952, to the village of Beaver, where he practiced as a family physician until 1958 before taking a residency in Orthopedic Surgery at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) in Richmond. In 1961, he joined Dr. Jim Dobbie in an orthopedic surgery practice in Hagerstown, MD, until 1977, when he returned to his beloved West Virginia.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife of 61 years, Martha N. Banks; two sisters Cornelia Banks Powers and Mary Caperton Banks Smith; a brother Colonel William M. Banks (USAF Ret.), and Clyde A. Smith, M.D., whom he considered his brother since 1935.
He is survived by his wife of six wonderful, loving, and beautiful years, Lois V. Banks; five children, Martha Ann Harding (Mike) of Menominee, MI; McRae C. Banks II, Ph.D. (Lucy) of Greensboro, NC; Mary Caperton Hubbard (Marc) of Fredericksburg, VA; Bettie Banks Stammerjohn (David) of Martin's Ferry, OH; and James W. Banks III, M.D. (Evelyn) of St. Louis, MO; 17 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; three great-great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews; three stepsons, Glen Caines, Pawley's Island, SC; Carlton Caines (Drema), Cross Lanes, WV; and Chris Caines (Jill), Georgetown, SC; and their children and grandchildren.
Jay was a lifetime member of the Monroe Historical Society, in which he was active for over 20 years, and the Greenbrier County Historical Society. He was a devoted member of the Union Presbyterian Church. During one of his several tenures as an Elder, he volunteered to write a piece about the formation of that Church for its 1982 Bicentennial. The article turned into his first book, 200 Years from Good Hope (1983), a history of the Presbyterian Churches in Monroe County.
An ardent nature lover, Jay was rarely happier than when he wandered fields and forest glades, brooks and streams searching for his much-loved brook trout, or listened to the birds singing sweetly in the trees, looking down from lofty mountains grandeur feeling the gentle breezes. Recording his contemplations, meditations, and imaginings for over 60 years, Jay began writing and publishing outdoor articles for the Baltimore Sunday Sun while in Hagerstown and continued writing articles for the West Virginia Hillbilly, Charleston Gazette, and Outdoors Today.
Two of his greatest joys were publishing memoirs of his general medical practice in Beaver during the 1950's in the book House Calls in the Hills: Memoirs of a Country Doctor (1996), and The Call of the Hawk (2004), a historical novel about his great-great-great-grandmother's captivity and release by the Shawnee in what are now Kentucky and Ohio. Other books written by Jay are Trophies I Can't Hang on the Wall (2006), stories about experiences in fishing and hunting, and a second historical novel, Frontier Surgeon (2011), based loosely on an ancestor physician who came to this country only to become entangled in the French and Indian War.
A celebration of his life will be held Monday, January 12, 2015 at 2 p.m. at Union Presbyterian Church, with the Rev. Nancy Bulla officiating. Visitation with the family will begin at 1 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests expressions of sympathy through donations to the Doug and Lucy Bowers Hospice House, 454 Cranberry Drive, Beckley, WV 25801, http://www.hospiceofsouthernwv.org/ for online donations, or Peyton House Hospice, 1265 Maplewood Avenue, Lewisburg, WV 24901. Those wishing to send online condolences or sign the online guestbook, may do so by visiting www.grovesfuneralhome.com Groves Funeral Home in Union, WV is serving the Banks Family.