James (Jim) Wayne Gilpin

James Wayne Gilpin, “Jim,” born February 11, 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by his loving family on December 28, 2025. Jim was known by others as a “kind, gentle, funny, wonderful, brilliant and magnificent man.”  He was the son of Robert E. and Jenny Overmyer Gilpin and grew up in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Jim began his working career at age 13 as an assistant bread truck driver, and as a 14-year-old, he served as a band boy for his uncle’s “Glenn Miller style” band. As an older teen, he became active in both church and sports and graduated in the top 10% of his high school class. He was admitted at age 16 to Michigan Tech after which he transferred at age 18 to the University of Michigan where he earned a BA in chemical engineering and metallurgy. In 1968 he acquired an MBA in Engineering Administration at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.

Jim’s chemical engineering career began in Niagara Falls and continued in Texas and Chicago where he was involved in technical research at the onset of the computer age. He eventually settled in North Carolina and in 1985 he married Charlotte Symphony flutist Shirley (Wilson-Jackson). In 1987 he and Shirley founded his chemical engineering company (INENCO, INC) specializing in environmental services. In the company’s infancy, he mentored two longtime business associates—J. Wes Willard and Ryan Osborne. In his spare time, Jim coached basketball at the Lake Norman YMCA for many seasons; and, after serving from 1999 to 2004, he was awarded Honorary Boy Scout Leader for Troop 58 at Davidson College Presbyterian Church.

A talented singer and amateur actor, Jim sang in Charlotte Oratorio, Opera Carolina and The Charlottetown Players. He also acted for many years in roles (sometimes comic) with Davidson Community Players. He sang tenor in the Davidson United Methodist Church Chancel Choir for over twenty years, and with the choir in 2002, he and Shirley performed in historic venues such as Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, England and Église Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Lourdes, France. In the summer of 2012, they heard the world’s finest orchestras in Austria and the Czech Republic on a trip sponsored by WDAV 89.9.

As a private couple, Jim and Shirley cruised to Patagonia in South America where Jim celebrated his 72nd birthday in the southernmost tip of Argentina (Ushuaia) known as “the end of the world.” In 2010, he and Shirley purchased a 38-acre farm in Alleghany County, NC as a retirement dream which culminated in a home in “God’s Country” where Jim was put to rest on their mountaintop.

Besides his wife Shirley, Jim is survived by his sons, David Wayne Gilpin of Davidson, Jonathan Brock Gilpin of Raleigh (Maggie); daughter, Lauren Jackson Coplan of Nashville, TN and three grandchildren—Zachary Wayne and Liam Michael Gilpin and Samantha Margaret Coplan. He is also survived by cousins Fred Graham (Judy) and Kim Birkby, sister-in-law Nancy Wilson Allen (DeWayne) and many nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews in Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado. The family would like to thank Home Care Partners in Charlotte, NC and Jim’s loving caregivers—Lester (“Netta”) Brinston, Rosa Brown, Hope Massey and Amber Catron.

A small gathering of close family and local friends will take place in Sparta, NC. A memorial service will be held at a later date in Davidson, NC. Contributions in Jim’s honor can be made to Scouts BSA—Troop 58, P.O. Box 58, Davidson, NC 28036, and to SHARE CHARLOTTE: Opera Carolina, 1600 Elizabeth Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28204.

Thomas Family Funeral Service is honored to be serving the Gilpin family. If you wish, online tributes may be extended to the family at www.thomasfamilyfs.com.

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