James Spencer Calvert ’45

Jim died April 20, 2021. 

He grew up in San Antonio and graduated from Texas Military Institute as valedictorian. He was captain of the five-state 8th Corps Area Championship Rifle Team. At Princeton, he ran track, was choir manager, and was a member of Cloister Inn. 

After Pearl Harbor, Jim joined the Army Air Corps, receiving his pilot training from the British Royal Air Force. He flew C-47 transports in the air-supply routes of the China-Burma-India theater to bring supplies to the Chinese troops fighting the Japanese. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster. He married Mary Anita Dittmar. One of only three pilots to wear the wings of the United States, Great Britain, and China, he was invited to the Oval Office by President George W. Bush.

Jim spent his career at department stores in Greensboro, N.C.; Houston; and with Joske’s Department Stores in San Antonio, retiring as vice president. He was a director of the San Antonio Symphony, serving as president and then chairman. He was a member of the Texas Cavaliers, marching in the inaugural parades of presidents Ike Eisenhower and George W. Bush. He was also in the Conopus Club, the Order of the Alamo, the San Antonio German Club, and the military Order of the Daedalians.

Jim was predeceased by his wife, brothers David and Jonathan, and grandson Robert Higginbotham. He is survived by children Carolyn Phipps ’76 *88 s*84, James Jr. ’78, Elizabeth Hickman ’80, Joseph, Richard, and Lucile Higginbotham; eight grandchildren; one great-grandchild; brother Richard W. Calvert ’54; and brother-in-law Joseph Dittmar ’54. Other family are Blair Fitzsimons ’82, Gregory Hickman s’80, and Stephen Phipps *84 s’76.