Mr. William M. “Bill” James, 92, died on Friday, October 18, 2024.
His remains will be cremated with Waller Funeral Home in charge. At his request there will be no services or funeral. A memorial may be held at a later date.
Mr. James, a native of Louin (Jasper County), Mississippi, was the eldest son of Harvey and Esther Lee James.
Shortly after graduation from Bay Springs High School in 1949, he joined the U.S. Army at the age of seventeen. He and his wife, Maggie, moved to Oxford from Grass Valley, California in 2007.
Mr. James retired from the Army in 1969 after twenty years of service in the Medical Laboratory Field. He was selected to attend the University of Mississippi under a degree completion program sponsored by the Army Surgeon General in January 1962. He graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in Biology and Chemistry in January 1964. He taught Basic & Advanced Medical Laboratory procedures at the Medical Field Service School at Fort Sam Houston, Texas for several years prior to serving his final year of military service in Vietnam.
Subsequent to his retirement from the Army Mr. James was employed by the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Long Beach, California, as Clinical Laboratory Administrative Officer and Assistant to the Chief of Staff. He retired from the Veterans Administration in 1992 after twenty-three years service.
Utilizing his GI educational benefits, Mr. James earned a Master of Arts degree from Central Michigan University in 1977, and a Master of Public Administration degree from California State University Fullerton in 1980. This was accomplished by attending night and weekend courses during his employment at the VA Medical Center, Long Beach.
Mr. James is survived by his wife, Magdalena James; two sons, Wolfgang Schug and Klaus Schug; his grandsons, Nikolaus Schug and his wife, Tera, and Elijah Schug; his sisters, Geraldine Reid and her husband, Dale and Shirley Solis; and his brothers, William James and his wife, Dot, and Grady James and his wife, Lou.
