Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 25, 1994 TAG: 9410250086
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Teass was pronounced dead at 4:41 a.m. at Bedford County Memorial Hospital, where he was admitted Sunday night after complaining of chest pains.
The Bedford County Board of Supervisors delayed its Monday night meeting until Thursday because of the death. Bedford County's administration building and courthouse will be closed from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Wednesday so employees may attend the funeral, which will be held at Updike Funeral Home in Bedford.
"When I think of Jim Teass, I think of the true epitome of a Southern gentleman," said fellow board member Tony Ware. "Someone will fill his seat on the Board of Supervisors, but they will never replace Jim Teass."
Former Supervisor John Sublett, who served as vice chairman under Teass in 1980, said, "It's like losing one of my family. He was a good statesman for the county. He looked out for the whole county, not just his district."
A Bedford County native, Teass lived on the same farm his entire life, with brief absences to attend North Carolina State University and to serve in the Army in the Pacific during World War II. The semiretired cattle farmer was a member of Ephesus United Methodist Church.
His long association with Bedford County politics started in 1960, when, running as a Democrat, he won a seat on the Board of Supervisors in the first primary runoff in Virginia history. In 1963, he was named vice chairman of the board.
Teass was defeated in 1964, but 15 years later, he was re-elected in a special election in which he ran as a write-in candidate, a first for Bedford County. He remained a supervisor until his death, representing the district that covers a large portion of southeastern Bedford County, including Huddleston, Waltons Store, Otter Hill and White House.
Teass served on the Board of Supervisors from 1960-64 and from 1979 until his death. He was elected chairman in 1980, 1988 and 1994., and he served as vice chairman in 1992 and 1993 Teass was an advocate of farmers' rights and wilderness preservation. The only controversy he stirred was in 1990, when he approved of construction of a landfill in the Otter Hill area near his farm.
The chairman was a member of the Smith Mountain Lake Policy Advisory Board and a former member of the Bedford County Farm Bureau's board of directors. Gladys Toms, a friend and neighbor, said Teass talked of spending many sleepless nights pondering the county's problems. "He really took it to heart. He did a top-notch job as supervisor for us."
Vice Chairman Dale Wheeler will be acting chairman. The board has 30 days to appoint another supervisor from Teass' district, or the appointment will have to be made by Circuit Judge William Sweeney.
The board had been scheduled to vote Monday on the proposed Blue Ridge Regional Jail. That vote will be Thursday. Some other business, including a public hearing about proposed revisions to Bedford's Land Use Guidance System, will be rescheduled.
Teass will be buried at Greenwood Cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Josephine, their daughter, Sarah, and his sister, Nancy Parr of Bedford.
Those wishing to pay their respects today may do so between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the funeral home. Teass' family will be at the funeral home today from 2 to 4 p.m. They ask that contributions be sent in Teass' name to the Ephesus United Methodist Church Building Fund, Route 4, Bedford 24523.
Memo: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.