William (Bill) A. James III, age 86, of Ona, West Virginia, formerly of Beckley, died on Monday, August 31, 2015 at the Emogene Dolin Jones Hospice House, Huntington, West Virginia following a brief illness. He was born on August 9, 1929 at Norfolk, Virginia, the son of the late William A., Jr. and Lillian Earwood James.
Bill was a 1947 honor graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley and in 1952 received a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University. He was a Registered Professional Engineer. During his professional life he was employed by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in East Hartford, Connecticut, the Raleigh County Commission (during the construction of Lake Stephens), Gates Engineering Company and other local engineering firms.
He was a member of the Beckley Kiwanis Club since 1967 in which he held multiple offices, including serving as secretary/treasurer for many years. He was part of the Kiwanis Legion of Honor and had served most recently as a board member of the West Virginia Kiwanis Foundation. Even though he resided in Ona, West Virginia for the past few years, he had continued attending the Beckley Kiwanis meetings until a recent injury prevented this. He was a former active member of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Beckley where he served on the vestry and as co-treasurer and Parish Keyman. At the time of his death, he was a member of St. Timothy’s-In-The-Valley Episcopal Church, Hurricane. West Virginia. He was also a member of the Raleigh County Historical Society and a past board member of the Women’s Resource Center and the Beckley Beautification Commission.
Surviving Bill are his wife of forty-two years, Mary, and stepchildren, Cecelia Riggs, Junction City, Kansas, Sue Fuller, Ona, Dr. Mary Lynn Marcuzzi and her husband Jonathan Brown, Huntington, and Marc Marcuzzi of Ona, a sister, Margaret Sayre and husband Robert of Lexington, Virginia, and a brother, John B. James of Durham, North Carolina, nephews John B. James, Jr., Donaldson E. James, Dr. William J. Sayre and a niece Frances Sayre.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Beckley, WV, at 2:00 pm. , with committal of ashes in the church columbarium. The family will receive friends beginning at 1:00 pm at the church.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the Memorial Fund of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Beckley, WV. Wallace Funeral Home, Milton, WV, in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.timeformemory.com/wallace.
