James “Jim” Bazemore

Jim Bazemore has passed, 1931-2021. A Family man, Architect, and Sailing Enthusiast He leaves his wife Trudie, a near-constant companion of 41 years, children, Wendi, her husband Bill Mattrey; sons Dan; Tim and his wife Lisa and youngest son Jon and his wife Patrice Wolfe. There are also nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Jim’s early years were mostly in Virginia where he graduated in 1948 from the Shenandoah Valley’s Augusta Military Academy before attending UVA for two years of Liberal Arts before entering the Marine Corps. He was a marksmanship instructor coach at Parris Island during his first year with the Corps. In late 1951 and early 1952 he served as a sniper in North Korea, First Division, 7th Regiment, B Company. The following year Jim was with S-2 intelligence, then G-3 intelligence Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro, California.
In 1954, Jim entered the 5-year Architecture school program at UVA, graduating in 1959. During the next five years, he became licensed in eight states and passed the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards examinations. In 1964, Jim opened Bazemore Architect, PC. ln Niagara Falls, NY while also being a part-time Professor teaching design to senior Art Ed majors at then Buffalo State College and some years later he taught second-year design to architectural students at The University of Buffalo.
Bazemore Architects work includes buildings at four Universities and two school districts, Senior medical facilities, Industrial facilities, several high-tech research centers, many commercial buildings, 11 large US HUD and privately financed large housing complexes, high rise apartments, several churches including design awarded Temple Beth Israel Conservative with associated facilities and many facility additions, alterations, and misc. projects. Two American Institute of Architects design awards and others were awarded to Bazemore Architects PC. Their work was in the following states: NY, VA, FL, SC, and AL.
Jim was a member of Youngtown Yacht Club. He joined in 1969 and was Commodore for two years. It was a busy time at Youngtown Yacht Club during the ’70s exposing his children to sailing Lake Ontario and other waterways. His children were in the junior sailing program at Youngstown Yacht Club. Jim loved a good race, especially single-handed races winning many of those races.
Jim closed his firm in 1991. For the next two years he and his wife Trudie enjoyed living aboard their large sailboat, while sailing to southern waters, and earlier, the length of The Saint Lawrence River. Upon leaving Florida waters, they sailed to Trudie’s hometown of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and built their retirement home on the shore of Lunenburg Bay. They lived there for 10 years sailing, working with the community organizations and winters were spent boating in Florida where they had a condominium near PuntaGorda.
In Lunenburg, he and Trudie were very involved in volunteer work for a number of community organizations. While there Jim designed many homes and Lunenburg Yacht Club facilities. They also sailed the coast of NS, Cape Breton, and to the famous graveyard of the Atlantic, Sable Island.
In 2002 they sold their homes and boats and built a new home on Dataw Island near Beaufort, SC.
Again, he and Trudie were heavily involved with community projects. While living there Jim was a member of and designed Beaufort’s Historical Society’s new office building. Also while there, Jim worked part-time as the Town Architect for CELADON, a high-end home community complex.
In 2011, Trudie and Jim sold their Dataw home and moved to Cascades Verdae, a senior independent living community in Greenville, SC. Again, they headed community advisory groups while meeting and making friends with wonderful folks. Jim & Trudie left Cascades in 2015 and now in 2021 they are apartment living, just down the road from friends at Cascades in the new VELO complex where Jim passed.
Inurnment will be held at 1 PM, Monday, August 9, 2021 at the Beaufort National Cemetery.
A favorite poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
One ship sails east and one sails west
by the selfsame winds that blow
It's the set of the sails and not the gales
which determines the way they go.
Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate
as we journey on through life
It's the set of the soul that determines the goal
and not the calm or the strife.