Born November 16, 1945 in Menifee, Arkansas, From the late Merzetta and John Henry. He attended Conway Country High School of Menifee. He was also the 3rd oldest of 9 children, after graduating he went on to move to Kansas City, Missouri. He met and married Camelia Dorset they had two children, Kennon and Ladonna Smith.

Soon moving to California he began working at McDonnell Douglas Aircraft where he maintained the gainly employment of a tube bender from 1967-1974. In 1968 he was divorced and went on to raise his kids as a single father until meeting Merdanstine and remarrying in 1974, They soon had a son together by the name of James Jr, combined with her four natural children. In 1977 he transferred jobs and began working at Northrop Aircraft Company. There he became a Master Mechanic and a tube bender until 1989. He would then go on and work for Boeing's Aircraft in Huntington Beach. He was a level 1 Supervisor in the production of the F-20 and the tubes on the C-17 Airlifter. He was the first black man to train other on the TQMS and the tube Fabricator becoming part of the Boeing 747 work crew later retiring from Aircraft work in 2002 giving 16 years of service. After retiring he began working for Vance and Hines tube bender company until 2005. He then fully retired and moved to Las Vegas in 2018 to spend time with his children up until his departure from life.

Viewing
10:00am - 12:00pm
Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Service
12:00pm - 2:00pm
Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Greater Faith Baptist Church
2736 Chamberlain Ln
North Las Vegas, NV, 89032