James Warren Buzzerd, age 83, died Monday, March 7, 2016, under the care of Hospice of the Panhandle in Kearneysville.
Born August 16, 1932, in Hagerstown, Maryland, he was a son of the late James Simeon Buzzerd and Margaret duFief Buzzerd.
A graduate of Berkley Springs High School and West Virginia University, James taught Industrial Arts for several years in Morgantown and Clear Spring, Maryland. He left teaching to join the family-owned newspaper, The Morgan Messenger in 1959 and became editor in 1962, following the retirement of his uncle, Lewis Buzzerd. He purchased The Hancock News in Hancock in 1966. He was a grandson of S.S. Buzzerd, who founded The Morgan Messenger in 1893. An active member of the West Virginia Press Association, he served in a leadership role for 38 consecutive years, starting first as a board member in 1978, then serving as president in 1988. He became a trustee of the WVPA Foundation in 1990 after his year as past president. He was still treasurer of the Foundation at the time of his death.
Locally, James was a founding member of Cowboy Action Shooting Sports, (CASS), Great Cacapon; a proud founding member of The Chain Gang, an elite trail clearing club at Cacapon State Park. He was the proud founder of the Buzzerd Deer Gang, a group of 18 hunters he hosted each fall in his Up The River Home.
An avid hunter and outdoorsman, he was happiest on his John Deere, in his deer stand, cutting firewood or working in his shop. James was a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Audrey Jean Clarson Buzzerd; and two grandchildren, Jeremy Warren Buzzerd and Lindsay Laine Buzzerd.
He is survived by his wife, Linda Swaim Buzzerd; two sons, James David Buzzerd, and wife, Sandra, and Todd Clarson Buzzerd, and wife, Beverly, all of Berkeley Springs; a daughter, Elizabeth Lee “Betsy” Hovermale, and husband, Rodney, of Berkeley Springs; three step-children, Andrew Clark, and partner, Michael McGough, of Alexandria, Virginia, Kimberly Brown, and husband, Craig, of Bedford, New Hampshire, and Travis Clark, of Martinsburg. He is also survived by six grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and one great- granddaughter: Shelley Jean Buzzerd, of Reston, Virginia, Cassandra Buzzerd, of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Allison Buzzerd, Morgan Buzzerd, Tiffany Hovermale and Derek Hovermale, all of Berkeley Springs, Kyra Brown, Liam Brown, both of Bedford, New Hampshire, and Haylee Waugh, of Berkeley Springs.
Per his request, the body was donated to the West Virginia University School of Medicine, and no service nor memorial gatherings were held.
Memorials may be made to the West Virginia Press Association Foundation, 3422 Pennsylvania Avenue, Charleston, WV 25302; or Cacapon State Park Foundation, 1772 Valley Road, Berkeley Springs, WV 25411.
