Ottley, "Uncle Jimmy"

Alumni returning to the Campus of the University of Michigan will miss one of the University’s most faithful and best-beloved servitors. “Uncle Jimmy” Ottley is dead. For a full half-century, he was a conspicuous character on the campus. “Uncle Jimmy” was supposed to be ninety-six years of age at the time of his death, “hale and hearty” as he was wont to express it till the illness seized him which resulted in his death Monday night, January 3.

When “Uncle Jimmy” came to the University there were but four buildings—the two wings of University Hall, the old Medical Building, and the old law building. In those days one of his duties was to carry firewood to the halls to feed the great box stoves, which furnished heat to the buildings. For the past eighteen years, he has been the custodian of the cloakroom at the General Library.

From his humble post, he has seen the University grow from its small beginnings to its present size and has been a familiar and venerable figure to thousands of students. For years he has been the recipient of the goodwill of the student body, expressed through the gift of a Thanksgiving turkey.

His death revealed the surprising fact that during his years of service, always with small pay, he had accumulated over $14,000 which had been carefully hoarded in a small iron safe.

The Michigan Alumnus