On July 5, 2020, James Howard Teal, Jr., a loving husband to Jeanne (nee Ferraro) and father to Meredith Alice, passed away at the age of 70 after a recent diagnosis of cancer. Known to all as Jim, he will be lovingly remembered by his brother David Alan Teal; his cousin and honorary brother Eric Loebs; his nephews Michael Patriaco and Joseph Navone; his nieces Sarah Teal (Brian) Stone, Monika van Schellenbeck, and Alexandra (Sam) Sharp; and countless friends.
Jim grew up in Winston-Salem, NC. He graduated from Parkland High School in 1967 and from East Carolina University in 1971, where he was an active member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. After serving in the United States Air Force, Jim spent most of his adult working life in consumer electronics. He took particular pride in owning his own businesses, first a chain of audio retail stores in North Carolina and then a consumer electronics manufacturing representative company, Teal Marketing, in Atlanta, GA.
In Atlanta in 1992 he met and married Jeanne Ferraro, and they raised their cherished daughter, Alice.
A reflection of his active, curious, and insightful mind, Jim’s interests were vigorous and wide ranging. He was a lifelong, dedicated fan of University of North Carolina basketball, but he loved sports of all kinds. He played baseball, football, and basketball in his younger years and later followed the NBA, the Atlanta Braves and Hawks, and East Carolina University football.
Music was a personal as well as professional interest. Music always played somewhere in his life. He went to hundreds of live performances, particularly The Allman Brothers and The Rolling Stones; and recently he went to Liverpool, home of his favorite band, The Beatles.
As an avid world traveler, he went to Greece, Egypt, Japan, and Korea, and made many trips all over Europe, from Italy to Amsterdam. He also loved to sail and especially loved sailing up and down the Caribbean with Jeanne and Alice on their Baltic, “Belle Aurore.” After he retired the family lived for several years in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico, where Jim taught English literature and history at Colegio Puerto Aventuras, and pursued advanced scuba diving and photography with his usual energetic interest. He dived all over the Yucatan coast and the Galapagos Islands.
Over the last few years, whenever he wasn’t too busy playing at the dog park with the family dog, Lilly, Jim taught photography in the Clark County, Nevada, school system. He loved teaching so much that he never saw it as a job – he was just sharing his excitement of subjects that he was passionate about with his beloved students, who appreciated his unique approach to school and also to living with passion and purpose.
Jim filled every room he entered with his big, engaging smile and sense of humor. His life was rich and full, and it touched so many others in so many ways that he leaves behind countless stories, memories, laughs, and smiles.
Due to the pandemic, memorial plans will be made later. Meanwhile, memorial donations may be made to Ocean Conservancy: https://oceanconservancy.org/ways-to-give/
12 Comments. Leave new
I’ll missing eating barbecue with Jim during his visits to NC to visit Dave Teal and seeing him during my infrequent trips to Las Vegas. He treated me,Terry and Jeanne to tickets to see Blue Man group when we were there. I still smile remembering the look on his face as a Blue Man used the top of Jim’s head to steady himself as he crawled across the seats in front of the stage. I’ll miss talking sports with him also.
Condolences to Jeanne and Alice. He’ll be missed.
Jeanne. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and Meredith. Jim was a lot of fun and always had an interesting story. Spear fishing with him off of Xpuha is a treasured memory. Your family and mine share a lot of wonderful memories. Vaya con Dios Jaime!
Dear Teal Family: we are so sorry for your loss. Keeping all in our thoughts & prayers.
To the Teal family and Jeanne and Meredith.
I met Jim and Jeanne in the Caribbean in 1992 While sailing and I was on jim yacht to the states , he was a amazing guy always smiling . And we kept in touch often on Facebook. I will miss our chats RIP from your Aussie mate .
He was a beloved teacher and colleague. Students and faculty at Canyon Springs High School will miss him. Condolences to Jeanne and the family.
You will be missed Mr. Teal 😢!
Our deepest condolences from Mrs. Aronson, World Languages Teacher at Canyon Springs HS. Rest in Peace Mr. James Teal. 🙏🏼❤🙏🏼
Jim,
Your sense of humor will live for ages. You will be missed. My sincere condolences to your family.
Eliot
Just seeing this but wanted to leave a reply and let the family know how appreciative I was, as a young man, to have the opportunity to work with Jim. He gave me my first chance in the rep business, as well as seeing how entrepreneurs work. This helped form my life to where I am today. Without his patience and tutelage, I don’t feel like I would be where I am. Thank you and my heartfelt condolences to the entire Teal family.
Not many people could light up a room like Jim. I was fortunate to know Jim in the prime of our CE life. We took many nice trips together. Many times he put me up in his house when I was in town working with him. I will never forget the trip when he told me had found the right girl, Jeanne. He was so excited telling me about her and I was very happy for him. I shared his interest in nice clothes and nice cars. RIP my old friend. Say hi to Joe, see you on the other side.
I remember feeling disappointed after learning that Mr.Teal wouldn’t be our photography teacher this year… Then feeling happy thinking he retired and went on to continue the rest of his life and relax. However, upon learning recently that he passed away I was shocked, crushed, and felt guilty.
I never really voiced my thoughts and now my thoughts fall on deaf ears but I feel like I should now voice my appreciation even though it’s too late now to tell him personally.
I truly appreciate having him as a photography teacher through three years of high school. I learned a lot during that time and experience many things I wouldn’t have otherwise wouldn’t without Mr.Teal’s encouragement. I felt like I’ve grown a lot since three years ago and I owe a lot of it to Mr.Teal. While it’s saddening knowing I won’t finish my last year of high school learning photography under him I’ll take what I’ve learned under him and run with it. While it’s to late to tell him now I feel like this is the next best thing. Thank you for everything Mr.Teal and I’m sorry for never having the chance to personally say it.
We lost a great man and my prayers go out to those who are also affected by his death.
I am so heartbroken. Our families spent a lot of time together (Teal/Cooke). We vacationed together. His dad and my dad were best friends. His mom and dad were my godparents. As time went on, we went our separate ways. I think the last time I saw Jim and David was at the funeral of their mother. (Faye died around this time a few years ago.) I have tried to contact them on various occassions: however, all tries hit a dead end. Prayers to you, Jeanne, Meredith, David and the rest of the family. How I do wish we had been able to keep in touch. Love to you all. Belinda Cooke Lefevre
Jim was my graduate teacher in English when I was a student at East Carolina University. Wonderful man, wonderful teacher. I had lost track of him. I’m sure he is greatly missed by many. My sincere condolences to his wife, family, and friends. Jeanne Scott Anderson