Jim Shirey prefers to travel around Athens by scooter as a means of transportation and exercise
One 73-year-old retired math teacher is gaining attention on campus by traveling to his tutoring appointments on a Razor scooter, and that man is Jim Shirey.
Jim started riding scooters with his grandson, Chris, as a hobby. They would both ride their scooters together, but then Jim said he decided it was more efficient for him to “scoot” around campus as a means of transportation, as well.
Jim taught mathematics at OU full time from 1969 to 2000, and then continued to teach part-time until 2012. He is now on campus three or four days a week to help tutor students.
“He is the most helpful person I know on campus. He is ALWAYS helping students with mathematics, and he does this for free and accommodates students’ schedules,” Chris Bailey, the graduate secretary in the Department of Mathematics, said in an email. “I find (he) has the largest, giving heart.”
When he isn’t on campus, Jim said he enjoys doing nature photography around his home.
Both Jim and his wife grew up in Northwestern Indiana, and he attended Purdue University. He has lived in Athens since he started teaching in 1969.
“When I came here and I saw Athens I thought, ‘I want to come here and never leave,’ " Jim said. "It’s a really nice, and it was a great place to raise kids too. I have two boys.”
His grandson, Chris Shirey, is a junior studying management information systems and also uses a scooter to travel around campus when he can. He’s been riding a scooter with his grandfather since he was about 6 years old.
Chris recalled how often they used to ride scooters together when he was younger and how they used to take long rides for nearly 15 miles.
“I remember at the eight-mile mark saying, ‘I’m tired let’s go back,’ and (Jim) said ‘Ah no, let’s go a few more,’ ” Chris said.
Both Chris and Jim said they have each owned about three or four scooters in their lifetimes.
“With these things, you actually have to work, and it’s kind of like jogging, but it’s a lot easier on your knees,” Jim said.
One time, Jim said he rode his scooter into town from his home, which is five miles away.
“Yeah, I just wanted to see if I could do it, and I could do it,” he said. “It’s just that (scooters) are dangerous on pavement.”
Emily Eschliman, a freshman studying journalism, said when she first saw Jim riding his scooter, she was amused to see an older man riding a scooter down Morton Hill, and that riding that fast on a scooter down a hill was “a little dangerous.”
“Before I got this scooter with the big wheels, I’d ride in and I’d be riding across campus, and at least one time a quarter, I’d hit something and just go flying,” Jim said. “So I’d come into the math office with blood down my arm, and they’d say, ‘Oh, you did it again, didn’t you?’ and I’d say ‘Yes, I did.’ ”
Jim even said he used Windex to clean up the blood after he fell off his scooter, and then he would just proceed on with his day.
To help Chris avoid similar falls, Jim bought his grandson a scooter with the big wheels.
Skateboarders, Jim said, sometimes make comments when they see him on his scooter. He added that he’s been thinking about buying a skateboard — he already owns rollerblades, a scooter and a bike.
However, the “hoverboards” many students ride around on campus do not appeal to Jim, he said, because he likes to be “on his own power” and that the hoverboards are “too easy.”
Jim said he doesn’t get to spend a lot of time with his grandson because Chris is busy with school. He said, though, Chris does come to his house to eat with his grandparents.
“He’s a guy, so as long as you feed him, he’ll come around,” Jim said. “We like food.”
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Chris said he decided to come to OU because of the long line of family he’s had here and that both of his grandparents live in the area, so he can see them whenever he wants.
“I just like how open (Ohio University) is," Chris said. "It’s like a town for us, and I couldn’t do this stuff at OSU. I wouldn’t be able to (scooter) there.”
@_alexdarus
