Contributed to the Fort Worth Report by Jocelyn Foster Tatum
James Edwin “Jim” Foster IV, whose family played a pivotal role in Fort Worth development, died April 18 from cancer after a long illness. He was 73.
Jim was born Nov. 19, 1950, in Fort Worth to Nell Yvonne Wood and James Edwin Foster III. He grew up with his brother, John Thomas “Tommy” Foster, near their grandparents’ family ranch about 10 miles southwest of downtown.
In the 1950s, the Fosters developed what was then considered the Fort Worth frontier, selling land and building residential properties and shopping centers between South Hills and Westcliff and up to Hulen just north of Interstate 20.
Two years after Jim was born, his great-grandfather, J.E. Foster Sr., donated 5.4 acres to the city at the intersection of Trail Lake Drive and South Drive in the Westcliff neighborhood.
What resulted was the creation of Foster Park, close to Old Granbury Road. Foster Park, along with Kellis Park to the south and Overton Park to the north, created a linear greenbelt in southwest Fort Worth. Land donated adjacent to the park aided in the development of Westcliff Elementary School.
Today, the approximately 12-acre park has duck ponds and 0.78 mile of multiuse trails that connect to Overton Park, which was donated to the city by the Fosters’ friends and ranch neighbors, the Edwards family.
The Fosters’ love of green space, exotic plants and animals led to more civic gifts. Alice James Foster, Jim’s grandmother, donated her koi for the pond at the Fort Worth Japanese Garden when it opened in the 1970s.
Jim’s children still live in Fort Worth, and his daughter, Jocelyn Foster Tatum, frequents the gardens almost weekly to enjoy the quiet inner-city getaway. She also takes her son, Jet Tatum, to feed the koi.
The Fosters started Tanglewood Hills Country Club on Lake Texoma, where Jim would later keep his 36-foot Catalina sailboat and spend many weekends with his three children — James Edwin “Win” Foster V, Lauren Foster and Jocelyn.
The family’s real estate and mortgage company, J.E. Foster & Son, had locations in Lubbock, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston. The headquarters was at 1111 Summit Ave., which is the current location of the James L. West Center for Dementia Care.
The Fosters’ Westcliff Properties also developed shopping centers and homes in the aforementioned neighborhoods.
Development that far southwest of the city center raised eyebrows at the time. Cass Edwards shared at J.E. Foster III’s funeral in 1988 that he thought the Fosters were brave to develop that far out, but when he saw them pull it off with success, he started to develop Tanglewood and Overton Park.
Jim and his brother often visited their grandparents’ cattle ranch. They would ride around in a paddleboat on Foster Lake, now known as Willow Lake, and had two Shetland ponies they kept there. Tommy recalled his grandfather telling him a wild story about the lake.
“My grandfather was raising cattle on the ranch,” Tommy said. “Where Willow Lake is now, there was a two-story empty building filled with slot machines. When he got wind that the sheriff was coming, he had his ranch hands dump the slot machines in Willow Lake, where the now Willow Lake Apartments are.”
With a chuckle, he wondered if they were still there.
The Fosters also owned Jefson Lumber Co. on Seminary Drive. J.E. Foster Sr. had ranches in Hico and Grayson County, then a 20,000-acre ranch in Latimer County in Oklahoma called Circle F Ranch. It was a cow-calf operation that produced oil royalties.
By the time Jim graduated in 1968 in the second graduating class of Trinity Valley School in Fort Worth, the Fosters had already started selling their companies. He earned a bachelor’s in business administration from Southern Methodist University and a master’s in business administration with a focus on finance and financial management services from Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business in 1974.
Just as Jim was finishing school, his grandparents sold the last of the family business.
He paved his own way in the business world, starting his career as a banker at First Continental Bank. He also volunteered for organizations and served on several boards, and was nominated for the Jaycee Fort Worth Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1978, when he was 28.
About that same time, he worked with Toastmasters in Fort Worth to overcome his fear of public speaking. Before long, he was the president of the Fort Worth chapter, and later, the Texas chapter.
He went on to work in health care consulting, health insurance and strategic planning and retired as director of managed care at Baylor Hospital, now called Baylor University Medical Center, in Dallas. He moved to Wylie in 2010 and volunteered his financial expertise for his church, Gateway Community Church.
A lifelong adventurer and learner, Jim loved the ocean. He spent much of his youth scuba diving around the world. His favorite scuba adventure was diving off the coast of Indonesia in shipwrecks and around downed World War II Japanese fighter jets.
Another was when he was night diving in St. Lucia and watched the moon rise from beneath the water.
His passion for underwater adventure earned him a spot as an executive producer and videographer for ESPN’s “Scuba World” in the early 1980s. He learned to sail as a boy, earning his captain’s license in his 30s so he could navigate boats on oceans and seas around the world.
In his 40s, he became a sailing instructor at Lake Texoma on the weekends. This allowed him more time on boats and the ability to share his love for the wind and water with others.
At one point, he learned how to navigate boats by the stars. He had long been captivated by the stars, playing with an app that allowed him to frame the constellations through an iPhone up until the week he passed.
When Jim was diagnosed with cancer in 2016, he looked for help and answers and leaned on his faith.
His friends and family admired that he didn’t pretend he could do it alone, and people in the cancer and medical community answered his call and supported him. Even when he felt very sick, he gave back what was given to him and brought those resources to Wylie.
To ensure that those around him with cancer would have a local resource and not have to travel to Dallas and Plano for help like he did, he formed a monthly discussion-based cancer recovery group at his church. He pulled material together from different cancer support ministries, creating a sort of lesson plan. They saw Jim in his cancer struggles and witnessed his perseverance.
One close friend and pastor said Jim’s faith inspired and carried others into a more hopeful place.
Both of Jim’s parents died from cancer. His mother, Nell, was 38 and given just three months to live when she was first diagnosed. Her courage to try new treatments and continue the fight was passed on to her son. Nell was a medical pioneer in cancer treatment as one of the early recipients of chemotherapy, and flew to Houston Methodist Hospital to meet Dr. John Sebastian Stehlin, whose landmark medical developments helped her live for four years.
Jim is survived by his wife of 22 years, Linda Wills Foster; children James Edwin “Win” Foster V, Jocelyn Foster Tatum, and Lauren Blake Foster; Matthew Charles Johnson and his wife, Misty Joe Johnson; grandchildren Joseph Randall Johnson, Ethan Matthew Johnson, James Earl “Jet” Tatum IV; and his beloved brother, John Thomas “Tommy” Foster.
A celebration of life ceremony was held April 27, 2024 at Gateway Community Church in Wylie. A burial service will be held at a later date in the Foster family’s plot at Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth, where his father, grandparents and great-grandparents are buried.
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