James Byron Kemp, age 76, retired former owner of the Cedar Key Island Hopper Tours, passed away at Haven Hospice in Chiefland, FL on Thursday, April 8, 2010 following a courageous battle with the side effects of diabetes. He was born July 5, 1933 in Atlanta, Georgia and was raised in Jonesboro, Georgia. His parents were the late Judge Edwin S. Kemp and Mrs. Gertrude Watts Kemp. He graduated from High School in 1950 where he was MVP on the football team. He then received a degree in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1955. Jimmy, as his family called him, served in the U.S. Army Intelligence 111th CIC from 1955 through 1957, and attended Officer Candidacy school in Baltimore, Maryland. He later went to law school at night and received a law degree from Atlanta Law School in 1964. He was married to JoAnne Bray in 1955, and they founded and operated Kemp Realty in Jonesboro from 1960 until 1976. During his career, he was on the board of directors of the C&S Bank and the Central Bank of Jonesboro. He was also an active member of the JayCees, the Masons, the Clayton County Board of Education, the Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce, and he served as Treasurer of Clayton County, 1961-1965. He was director of the Clayton County Real Estate Board, and was a developer and builder in Jonesboro until 1980, when he moved to Cedar Key. He established the Cedar Key Island Hopper Tour business in 1987 and ran it until 2005, when he retired for health reasons and moved to Chiefland, FL.
"Captain Jim" is survived by his wife Doris Bible Kemp and his three children: Cynthia Kemp Hendershot, Sandra Kemp Geisler, and James Randall Kemp and his wife, Pam, five grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his sister Helen Elaine Kemp, his brother Edwin Stanley Kemp, Jr., and his sister-in-law Brenda Spence Kemp. He has many other extended family members including three step-daughters, three step-sons, seventeen step-grand-children, eight step-great-grandchildren, as well as numerous friends and neighbors. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister Merle Elizabeth Kemp Tarpley and brother-in-law Curtis Lloyd Tarpley. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Humane Society of Levy County at P.O. Box 678, Bronson, FL 32621 or Haven Hospice at 4200 NW 90th Blvd., Gainesville, FL 32606. A memorial is being planned for mid-May in Cedar Key, Florida. Call for information about the service after May 10th at 352-490-7334. |
