JOSEPH H. JAMES JR.
Dec. 18, 1928-Feb. 28, 2014
Joseph H. James Jr., Raleigh, passed away suddenly Feb. 28, 2014.
He was born Dec. 18, 1928, to Grace Mae Lane and Joseph Hayden James, and was raised on a peanut farm in Surry County, Va.
He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia in 1949 and his master's degree in hospital administration in 1954 from Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University.
In June 1949, he married Laura Saunders of Ivor, Va.
He served as CEO of community hospitals in Virginia and North Carolina, the last of which was Wayne County Memorial Hospital, where he served for 26 years, retiring in 1986.
He was a member of the American College of Health Care Executives and the American Hospital Association, and was a past president of the North Carolina Hospital Association.
He served on the boards of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina and Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community.
He was a leader in the Tuscarora Council of Boy Scouts USA, and was awarded the Silver Beaver, the highest adult honor, in 1974.
Governor Holshouser inducted him into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 1975.
He was a longterm member of Rotary International in the Goldsboro and Edenton, N.C., chapters.
Mr. James had a lifelong love of the water, was an avid boating enthusiast and loved good seafood, particularly oysters.
He was a furniture maker by hobby, and many remember him by the wooden bowls he turned by hand and gave as gifts. His bowls are displayed and used in homes from Austin to Tampa, from Boston to St. Louis and soon to be in South Korea and El Carrizo, Honduras.
Mr. James is survived by his wife of 64 years, Laura Saunders James; his sister, Thelma James Edwards of Hopewell, Va.; his son, J. Hayden James III of Raleigh; his daughter, Lavinia James Vaughn of Tampa, Fla.; his daughter-in-law, Catherine McCracken James; and his grandchildren, William Joseph James, Sarah Elizabeth James, Grace Renaud Vaughn and Madeleine Camille Vaughn.
Visitation will be held in the Great Room at Springmoor Life Care Community Friday, March 7, 2014, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., with a memorial service at First Baptist Church of Raleigh, 99 Salisbury St., Saturday, March 8, 2014, at 2:30 p.m.
Memorial gifts may be made in Mr. James' honor to the Springmoor Endowment Foundation, c/o Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community, 1500 Saw Mill Road, Raleigh, N.C., 27615, and First Baptist Church of Raleigh.
Arrangements are by Cremation Society of the Carolinas.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on March 5, 2014 1:48 PM