Alumnus of the year 2012- James K. Stock

We have been remiss in putting this information on the webpage in a timely manner. James K. Stock was named Alumnus of the Year by the New Oxford Alumni Association at their annual Banquet held in May of 2012.

Jim was born September 8, 1925 in New Oxford. Except for a short time, he still lives on the same street he was born , being raised on only three houses away. He attended all twelve years of school at New Oxford Schools and graduated in the spring of 1943.

After graduation from high school he worked for a short time for the Pennsylvania Department of Highways on a survey crew.

When he turned 18, on September 8, 1943, he registered for the draft and was drafted into the Army by December that same year. He was stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and was placed in the 87^th Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Georgia. By December of 1944 the 87^th Division, then a part of General Patton’s 3^rd Army, was sent to Germany into combat at the Battle of the Bluge.

When the war ended in Europe Jim came home for a two week furlough expecting to be regrouped and shipped out to Japan, During that two week period at home, President Truman ordered the atomic bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. With that vast destruction Japan surrendered almost immediately and the war was over. He was discharged from the Army on February 16, 1946.

Jim worked for Mr. Eicholtz in his typewriter business during his high school days, mowing lawns, sweeping pavements, and cleaning typewriters. When he returned home from the Army in February of 1946 Jim returned to his job with the PA Dept. of Highways. In the fall he entered Gettysburg College, graduating in 1950. During his time in college he worked again for Mr. Eicholtz and upon graduating from Gettysburg he went to work full time for the business. Mr. Eicholtz passed away in 1954 and Jim purchased the business at that point. In 2002 Jim’s son Alan took over the business. Jim Stock continues to work and help his son to this day.

Jim married his high school sweetheart, Doris Jean Myers, also from the class of 1943. They wed on October 7, 1950 and raised two children, Alan and Louise, who are both New Oxford High School graduates.