Major Jim Allison, Area Commander for The Salvation Army of Hampton Roads, marked 40 years as a Salvation Army Officer this past June. A native of Gaffney, SC, Jim says that he had never attended worship at the Salvation Army until being invited, along with his father, to Sunday school there to help his cousin win a contest. Jim says that he felt loved and appreciated by the officers and everyone worshipping at the Salvation Army, which became his church home. Jim’s mother attended, and he and both parents enrolled as Soldiers (members). Jim’s father died when Jim was 15, and after that, Jim says, a Salvation Army Captain became like a father to him. The Captain always showed up when Jim did something wrong. “Boy,” the captain would ask, “what do you think you’re doing?”
Jim says that the Salvation Army invested heavily in his life, and helped him through some troublesome years growing up. He also says that he felt God tell him, “If you give me your life, I’ll take care of the rest.” Jim committed his life to God the third Sunday of June in 1972, and says he’s never wavered and never looked back.
Jim and his wife Lois were Commissioned (Ordained) as Officers in The Salvation Army in June 1977 following graduation from The Salvation Army Evangeline Booth College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Jim and Lois’ career with the Salvation Army has taken them to North and South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, in addition to Pulaski, Waynesboro, and Charlottesville, Va., before bringing them to Norfolk in June 2016. Lois is a native of Moundsville, W.V., and is The Salvation Army’s Associate Area Commander. Jim says that he became a Tar Heel fan while serving in North Carolina, and that his in-laws made him a Steelers fan as well.
Before they retire in 2020, Jim says he and Lois will continue to work with such ministries as the Kroc Center, H.O.P.E. Village, and Hope Center. Jim cites Will King, who he met at The Salvation Army’s Christmas Depot in December 2016, as a faithful Rotary recruiter as the reason he’s involved with Rotary today.
In his off time, Jim looks forward to Bible Conference week at Lake Junaluska, N.C., and to spending time with Lois and their two grandchildren. The Allison’s’ older daughter lives in Chesapeake, and their younger daughter lives in South Carolina.