David W. James passed away, Friday, October 18, 2024.  David grew up in Arlington, Virginia, after having been born in Washington, D.C., on June 30, 1940.  His parents were Wendell A. James and Dorothy B. James, both of whom came to Arlington from Connecticut.  His mother was a direct descendent of Tapping Reeve who started the country’s first law school in Litchfield, Connecticut.  She passed away in 1954.  His father thereafter remarried Kathleen Cochran (James) from Huntington, West Virginia.  She was a blessing to David as he matured.  Sometime later she also passed away and his father again married.  She was Eileen Burr (James) who had children from an earlier marriage and was a further blessing to David and his father in retirement from the United States Department of Agriculture.  He later preceded her in passing. 

David was a graduate of Arlington’s Wakefield High School.  He enjoyed photography, together with raising and showing dachsunds.  He was a charter member of the Metropolitan Washington Dachsund Club where his dog won the club’s first specialty dog show.  His further education was an undergraduate degree from North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, with majors in both Economics and Psychology followed later with a Master or Science degree taken through a work-study program at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, in Vocational Rehabilitation.  His employment and working experiences were in the field of juvenile justice.  He was first employed as a counselor at the Beaumont Learning Center, located in Powhatan County along the James River.  There he became a Senior Counselor, a Virginia Registered Social Worker, and a charter member of, what was later to be named, the Virginia Juvenile Justice Association.

After Beaumont, he continued working for the Commonwealth and became an Administrative Supervisor with the 5th District Juvenile Court Service Unit which includes Suffolk, Franklin, and Isle of Wight and Southampton Counties.  His tenure there lasted some 9 years after which he went to the Newport news Court Service Unit from which, due to a chronic medical disability, he retired at the age of 44.  During this time, he was actively involved with the aforementioned, Virginia Juvenile Justice Association where he served twice as President and was later made a lifetime member.  

David’s retirement activities included golf.  He was a member, and was later honored as a lifetime member, of the men’s Suffolk Golf Association. He resided in Isle of Wight County in Cherry Grove Acres adjacent to Chuckatuck where he was active in civic and community endeavors.  He was a charter member and office holder in the Possum Hollow Ruritan Club and held similar posts with the Windsor AARP chapter.  He was also a member of the Suffolk Elk’s Lodge where he enjoyed playing cards, especially after having to give up playing golf.  He also enjoyed playing bridge which he did on a routine and longtime basis on Friday mornings after entering retirement together with later play with the Nansemond Rive Duplicate Bridge Club.  David, additionally, was a member and did volunteer work with the Friends of the Chuckatuck Library.  Also, the Isle of Wight Democratic Committee was included in his active pursuits.

He would ask that any donations be made to educational organizations of choice, or to environmental organizations to which he was a member, The James River Association or the Nansemond River Preservation Alliance. 

A Celebration of Life Service will be held Thursday, November 7, 2024, at Parr Funeral Home and Crematory, 3515 Robs Drive, Suffolk, VA 23434 at 11:00 a.m with Rev. Michael D. Halley officiating.  His ashes are to be placed next to his parents in a gravesite at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, in Ashland, Virginia at a later date. David’s routine closing email words:  Be COOL.

Condolences may be registered online at www.parrfuneralhome.com.