In Memory: James W. Enochs Jr. ’49B

A recipient of the VMI Foundation Distinguished Service Award and former VMI Board of Visitors member, James Wilson Enochs Jr. ’49B died Feb. 23, 2024. He was 95.

Enochs—known as “Nux” to his brother rats and other members of the VMI family—matriculated from Hopewell, Virginia. He was a civil engineering major and was involved in many cadet activities, including the Canterbury Club, the Glee Club, and the Bomb. He was a cadet corporal and cadet sergeant, as well as a cadet lieutenant and a cadet captain during his 1st Class year.

He graduated in January 1949, a few days after the Corps of Cadets participated in the presidential inaugural parade for Harry S. Truman Jan. 20, 1949. James “Ding” Patton ’49B, class agent, remembers Enochs as somewhat fun-loving. “I roomed next door to him in barracks our 1st Class year. Just before we left for Christmas furlough, his room held a party that would not have had Institute approval. Hot buttered rum was the featured beverage, and things got a little wild, although Jim always remained in control.”

After graduation, he attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business for 1 year. From 1950–52, he served in the U.S. Air Force as an aviation engineering officer and was posted to the Republic of Korea from 1950–51. He left the service in the grade of first lieutenant.

He returned to Hopewell and joined J.W. Enochs, Inc., the commercial and industrial general contracting firm established by his father, James W. Enochs Sr., in 1920. He would work for the company for 63 years and was its president for 57 years, starting in 1958. Under his leadership, versatility became the company’s watchword. The company’s projects have included dams, bridges, schools, water treatment plants, manufacturing plants, dairies, museums, hotels, medical and veterinary facilities, theaters, grocery stores, historic restorations, airports, and government buildings.

Enochs was involved in many other businesses, as well. He was a director for the Petersburg & Hopewell Gas Company from 1961–79 and served on the boards of United Virginia Bank (Hopewell branch) and Pioneer Federal Savings and Loan, as well as the Hopewell Area Board of SunTrust Bank. In 1961, he was selected as Young Man of the Year by the Virginia Jaycees. He also was named to Who’s Who in Finance and Industry.

James W. Enochs Jr. ’49B (left) was presented with the VMI Foundation Distinguished Service Award on Founders Day 1996. Following the presentation, Enochs was congratulated by then-Maj. Gen. Josiah Bunting III ’63, VMI’s 13th superintendent.

He was an active professional citizen and involved in civic affairs. A longtime member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, he was a member of the Virginia State Registration Board for Contractors from 1962–72 and served as the board’s president in 1966. A charter member of the Appomattox Basin Industrial Development Corporation, he was the organization’s second president in 1961. He was a commissioner of the Virginia State Port Authority from 1963–69 and a member of the Army Advisory Committee at Fort Gregg-Adams (then Fort Lee) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was the chairman of the latter organization from 1961–62.

His service extended to local government. He served on the Hopewell City Council from 1954–62 and was Hopewell’s mayor from 1956–58. Patton recalled, “It was reported at that time that he was the youngest person to ever hold that position.”

Johnny Partin ’14 has been a city councilor in Hopewell since 2019 and is now the city’s mayor himself. He has fond memories of Enochs, with whom he often discussed local and regional affairs and politics. “I remember meeting Mr. Enochs when I was running for Hopewell City Council,” Partin recalled. “He was a towering figure but very easy to talk with. After I was elected, he mailed me a personal note congratulating me on my win. His biggest piece of advice was to do the right thing for the right reason, and everything else will fall in line.”

Enochs was devoted to VMI and his brother rats. Many alumni and friends will remember him as a fixture at the annual Institute Society Dinner, happily chatting with his brother rats, other alumni, and especially cadets. “He enjoyed the Institute Society Dinners,” said Partin, “and he wanted to be a good representative for the Class of 1949B.”

Enochs closely followed VMI sports, especially football and basketball. Lanny Gault ’71, son of Enochs’ brother rat and close friend, Ronnie Gault ’49B, remembers how the two and others often traveled to Lexington for football games. “My dad, Nux, and many others [in the Class of 1949B] regularly attended VMI football games and enjoyed themselves immensely for many years. Cocktails were abundant, and fun was had, win or lose.”

Such was Enochs’ devotion to VMI that he attended games well into his 90s. “Back in 2019,” Gault recalled, “I was at a game in Lexington. It was November and bitterly cold. I was sitting with my normal group, and we were all bundled up, trying to stay warm. Then I saw Nux, who was 90 years old, walking up the stands. I called him, and he came over and sat with us. He was wearing what I would call a light summer jacket, no gloves, and a golf beret-type hat that didn’t cover his ears. To this day, my friends marvel at how he sat there, ramrod straight, as always, and seemingly impervious to the cold.” In fact, Enochs attended a game in fall 2023—when he was 95. “He was a die-hard Keydet to the end,” said Gault.

Enochs devoted 8 years of service to VMI on the BOV from 1983–91. He served on numerous committees, including Academic Affairs (1984–91), Sesquicentennial Steering (1983–89), Special Programs & Public Relations (1985–89), and Legislative Affairs (1986–90). He was chairman of the Special Programs & Public Relations and Legislative Affairs Committees from 1985–86 and 1986–88, respectively. Enochs was the board’s vice president during his final year of service and was a member of the Superintendent Search Committee.

The resolution presented to him after his retirement recognized him for bringing “to the deliberations of this Board a thorough understanding of the Institute’s historic mission and a deep interest in every aspect of cadet life.” Enochs clearly enjoyed being on the BOV. In 1991, he wrote to Lt. Gen. John W. Knapp ’54, then-superintendent, “What a grand 8 years. … They don’t come any better than that.”

On Founders Day 1996, Enochs was one of three alumni to whom the VMI Foundation presented its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award. He was the first of three brother rats who received the DSA. The citation for the award stated he “has provided steadfast leadership as a loyal alumnus of the Institute … and always [took] an interest in the welfare of the Corps of Cadets.”

In his acceptance remarks, Enochs recounted the life of Sir Moses Ezekiel, Class of 1866, a New Market cadet and later an internationally renowned sculptor, as well as a visit by Gen. George C. Marshall, Class of 1901, to VMI in 1949. “Marshall was as erect as a young man. Strong and awe-inspiring. He spoke to the Corps in a quiet voice for about 5 minutes and concluded his remarks by saying, ‘Thanks for listening to an old grad.’”

Describing his as “an ordinary cadetship that has been repeated with slightly different variation for 157 years,” he spoke to the character of VMI. “What it is that becomes so special about this place is that it draws us all together so tightly for a lifetime. Well, it’s different for each of us, but knowing that average guys from Hopewell and Waverly, Virginia, went through the same experience that Ezekiel and George C. Marshall did is a big part of it. Although it is seldom expressed, many of us know that we gained much more than we gave.”

Enochs is survived by his four children, Margaret Jarvis, James Wilson Enochs III ’84, Ashley Enochs, and Charles Whitner Enochs ’92, and six grandchildren. His wife of more than 40 years, Lillian W. “Tubby” Enochs, predeceased him.