AMVETS Post 48 in Tiffin will be renamed in honor of James A. “Jim” Speaker, the Vietnam veteran and longtime post commander who helped build the organization over more than three decades. The post will mark the change with a public dedication ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 11 — what would have been Speaker’s 77th birthday.
Once dedicated, the club will be known as the James A. Speaker AMVETS Post 48. Speaker died Aug. 11, 2025, at St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima at age 76.
A public dedication on June 11
In announcing the dedication, the post said Speaker, as a past commander, “gave countless hours of his time, energy and commitment to this Post, its members and our community.”
“Amvets Post 48 would not be what it is today without Jim Speaker, so please join us as we proudly become the James A. Speaker Amvets Post 48,” the post wrote in its announcement.
The ceremony will be held at the post, located at 1909 S. State Route 100 in Tiffin.
Three decades at the post
Speaker was hired as the post’s canteen manager in 1991 and was part of the group that purchased the land and building where the current canteen sits. He held several post offices, serving multiple terms as commander, and was recognized at the state and national levels for membership campaigns.
Born June 11, 1949, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Speaker graduated from Columbian High School in 1967, where he was a state-qualifying runner and a co-captain of the school’s first cross country team. He was drafted in May 1970 and served 13 months in Vietnam as a radio operator with MACV Advisory Team 87, attached to the 87th ARVN Infantry Division, stationed atop Black Virgin Mountain in Tay Ninh Province. He was honorably discharged in December 1971 and earned the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Medal.
After earning a food service management degree from Terra Community College in 1976, Speaker managed several area restaurants, including the original Taco Bell in Tiffin. In 2018, he received the Veteran of the Year Award from the Seneca County Juvenile Court. He served on the Seneca County United Veterans Council funeral detail and volunteered with organizations including the Wounded Warrior Project, Hospice and Tiffin Youth Football, and he was an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church.
The post has invited the public to the June 11 ceremony at AMVETS Post 48 in Tiffin.
