McMinnville resident and Van Buren County native James Clinton Strode, 81, was born Feb. 13, 1933 and died Sept. 19 at St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro following a short illness. A retired employee of DeZurik, a United States Army veteran, and a member of Clark United Methodist Church, he was the son of the late Clifton and Mary Shockley Strode. He was married Sept. 10, 1966 to Jeannette Ford Strode of McMinnville.