Jimmy Short
Barkeep Nomad Village • 12/24/29 – 06/10/14
by Libby Stiff
James Millard Fillmore Short was born the day before Christmas, 1929 to an old, established Sussex County family in Georgetown, Delaware. His father worked at the Farmers Bank. He attended local schools until transferring to St. Andrews for preparatory school. He graduated from the University of Delaware, a member of Phi Kappa Tau, in 1952. He joined the Coast Guard and spent four years serving his country. In 1956, Jimmy joined the faculty at De La Warr High School.
In April of 1961, I was walking down Main Street with friends to McDonalds, a new take-out burger place. Large graffiti on the Railroad overpass, Welcome to Fairyland.
“What’s that about?”
One of the group snorted, “You didn’t hear? About a hundred queers went to jail. Part of the Newark High School football team and sailors from Bainbridge.”
I quickly ducked my closeted head.
A large gay social group had been raided after a three month investigation. Even though over a hundred prominent Delawareans were implicated, only a dozen men were indicted. This time, only these twelve men had their lives ruined. Sweet, gentle Jimmy Short was one of them.
His “crime” exposed, his job lost, he spent 15 months in the old Wilmington Workhouse. His crime was sodomy. His real crime was being gay. Today, it is hard to fathom what this was like. It’s hard to comprehend that it was illegal for gays to gather, to go to bars, to have private parties. Or to even exist. Eight years before Stonewall, being gay was a felony.
Jim, in disgrace, returned to Sussex County in the summer of 1962. He stayed in the “outback” cottage of his family’s summer home on Norfolk Street in Rehoboth. He attended and found comfort at All Saints’ Church. He went to the Pink Pony on the boardwalk, and Juliet’s, now the Frog Pond, on First Street. He observed that gays were charged a dollar a drink and straights were charged 65 cents.
Jim encouraged his friends, Randall and Betty Godwin to open a private bar inside their Nomad Village bar and cater to the growing gay population. Jim went to work at the Nomad as a bartender and stayed for over 30 years. He had a front row seat to the metamorphosis of a thriving gay community. He was our totem, a bastion of strength as we inched our way out of the closet. He remembered our names, what we did during the week, and our triumphs and fears. He never faltered in his caring during the plague. He soldiered on, ever humble, ever loving.
After Nomad’s closing, Jim retired to Norfolk Street. On every visit, he brought up the events of the ‘60s. Over and over, “I went to jail for what isn’t illegal now.” Growing frail, he moved to Brandywine Senior Living. In May 2012, we agreed to go after a pardon. On January 12, 2013, James M. F. Short was granted a pardon by Governor Jack A. Markell. When I handed him the signed document, he whispered, tears in his eyes, “Is it finally over?”
On June 10, we lost our soldier. Our road was paved by people like Jim Short. Always kind, never bitter, but a pillar of resolve. We’ll miss him.
Bruce Alan Pfeufer
Bruce Alan Pfeufer, 71, of Rehoboth Beach, passed away Sunday, June 15, 2014 at the Delaware Hospice Center in Milford. He was born February 24, 1943, in Baltimore, MD, son of the late William G. and Paula (Rappaport) Pfeufer.
Mr Pfeufer attended Maryland Institute college of Art and was a longtime employee of Western Electric (Lucent).
Mr Pfeufer is survived by his brother, Gary Pfeufer and Gary’s wife Kathy of Grand Junction, Colorado.
Funeral services were held June 24 at Parsell Funeral Home.
Memorial contributions may be made to CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971; Cancer Support Community, 18947 John J. Williams Highway, Suite 312, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971; or Delaware Hospice, 100 Patriots Way, Milford, DE 19901