A leading voice in fostering understanding and appreciation of the man William Faulkner has been stilled with the death of Jimmy Faulkner of Oxford. 
James Murry “Jimmy” Faulkner, nephew of the Nobel laureate and son of author-artist John Faulkner, died last December 24 at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo after a lengthy illness. He was 78. 
Jimmy Faulkner leaves a treasure of family lore on the uncle he called “Brother Will” in work that includes Across the Creek: Faulkner Family Stories (University Press of Mississippi, 1986) and in stories and recollections in publications including Southern Review, Delta Review, Mississippi Review, and Delta Heritage. 
In addition, his “Knowing William Faulkner” presentation with color slides on his Brother Will was a popular feature through the years of the annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference at the University of Mississippi. Jimmy had been joined in the presentation in recent years at the conference and in guest appearances at colleges and universities by his daughter, Meg Faulkner DuChaine, of Oxford. 
One of the more recent of Jimmy’s reminiscences of his revered uncle came in 1998 in the foreword to the Hill Street Classics reprint of John Faulkner’s My Brother Bill. 
“What I learned from Brother Will while growing up was to be a good sportsman, to know and respect nature, and to stand on my own two feet,” Jimmy writes. “He gave me my first cowboy chaps, hat, and pistol, my first airplane flight (he was the pilot), and my first gin and tonic.” 
Jimmy in that same foreword salutes his father, John Faulkner, as “a man of many talents—a civil engineer, a writer, a pilot, and a painter.”
“Everybody liked John, and he liked them. He was a friend, buddy, and teacher to [Jimmy’s younger brother] Chooky and me. He was the best daddy two boys ever had. I knew him well. I loved him. He was my father.”
Jimmy Faulkner had been engaged before retirement as a contractor with his Faulkner Construction Company. 
He served during World War II and the Korean War as a Marine Corps pilot, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, the World War II Victory Ribbon, and the Pacific Theatre Ribbon. He retired from active military duty as a lieutenant colonel. 
He was a communicant of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. 
He was preceded in death by his wife, Nancy Watson Faulkner.
Survivors, in addition to his daughter, Meg Faulkner DuChaine, are two sons, James Murry Faulkner Jr. of Jackson, Mississippi, and Thomas Wesley Faulkner of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee; his brother, M. C. “Chooky” Falkner of Oxford; and four grandchildren. 
Services were held at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, with burial in St. Peter’s Cemetery at Oxford. 
Memorials may be made to the American Heart Association. 

William Boozer

Photograph: Jimmy Faulkner (left) and Dr. Chester E. McLarty at dedication of Faulkner plaque at the Lafayette County Courthouse on the opening day of the 1983 Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference.