James Frank Stovall Jr., a member of the College of Engineering Hall of Fame and former president of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, died Nov. 12 at his home in Atlanta. He was 90.
Mr. Stovall, TE 41, was the retired co-chairman of United Cotton Goods Co., a manufacturer of uniforms and linens. In 1959, he became co-owner of the company, which had plants in Griffin, Ga., and Seguin, Texas.
“We took that little business and grew it every year,” Mr. Stovall recalled in a 2000 Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine article.
The company was sold to a German firm in 1980, but Mr. Stovall and his business partner continued to manage it for five years before retiring.
In an obituary published in the Naples Daily News, Mr. Stovall’s family wrote that outside of family and business “his proudest accomplishment was his long-term relationship with Georgia Tech.” Mr. Stovall served two terms on the Alumni Association board of trustees and was president for 1972-73. He was an emeritus member of the Georgia Tech Foundation board, serving his first term in 1977. He also had served as director and treasurer of the former Tech-Georgia Development Fund, co-chair of his class’ 50th reunion committee and a member of the Legislative Network.
Mr. Stovall was inducted into the College of Engineering Hall of Fame in 1998. A year later, he was presented the Joseph Mayo Pettit Alumni Distinguished Service Award, the highest award bestowed by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association.
A Madison, Ga., native, Mr. Stovall was president of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, vice president of the student council, secretary of his senior class and a member of ANAK while a student at Tech. He moved to New York City following graduation and became a textile buyer for U.S. Rubber Co. He served four years in the Army Air Forces in World War II, earning the rank of sergeant. He began his textile sales career at the Atlanta office of Joshua L. Bailey & Co.
Mr. Stovall was a former president of the Atlanta Textile Club. A longtime supporter of the Republican Party, he was an alternate delegate at the 1968 national convention and was active in many campaigns over the years.
Mr. Stovall’s survivors include sons James F. Stovall III, Text 70, and John Stovall, Cls 81, and grandson James F. Stovall IV, CS 01, and his wife Chrissy, ChE 01.
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