Charles Howell James II
Charles Howell James II passed away peacefully at home in Charleston on September 15, 2007, following a long illness.
President and chairman of the James Corporation, he worked over 30 years in his family's 124-year-old food distribution business. A member of the third generation who operated the business, C.H. James II served as president and CEO of James Produce Company and C.H. James & Co. until 1988, when his son, Charles H. "Chuck" James III, the current and fourth-generation president and CEO, succeeded him. Chuck moved C.H. James & Co. to California in the mid-1990s and has continued to operate the company since that time. The company has been recognized on numerous occasions as being one of the oldest and largest black businesses in the country.
Born in Charleston on November 22, 1930, Charles H. James II was the sixth of seven children of Edward L. James Sr. and Stella Shaw James.
He graduated from West Virginia State College Elementary School and West Virginia State College Teachers' Training High School in Institute. After completing his sophomore year at West Virginia State, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance and Commerce where he was elected to the Beta Gamma Sigma Honorary Scholastic Society and graduated in 1953 with honors, earning the Bachelor of Science in economics. After serving as an Air Force lieutenant in Japan, he joined the family business. Grounded in the wisdom and early business strategies developed by his father and his grandfather, C. H. James (the 19-year-old who founded the company in 1883), he used his formal education to combine theory with practice and the traditional with the cutting-edge. In 1992, after 36 years in the family business, he undertook a second career as internal auditor at West Virginia State College; he relished the experience in that new domain where he could apply his meticulous skills.
He received many awards and honors, among which included meeting with President Jimmy Carter in the White House with other Black Enterprise "BE 100" CEOs; The Wall Street Journal Dow Jones Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence; W.Va. Minority Business Development Center-Lifetime Achievement Award: Business; The Hazo W. Carter Presidential Award for Business Acumen, W.Va. State University; the W.Va. State University Foundation Inc. Second Century Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Business in West Virginia; and special recognition from U S Small Business Administration.
Active in community affairs for several decades, he served on numerous boards and committees, in various capacities, including: Kanawha International Airport Authority (now Yeager Airport), Charleston Chamber of Commerce and the Committee of 100, Future Farmers of America, United Fund of Kanawha Valley, Buckskin Council, Boy Scouts of America, Mayor's Commission on Interstate Understructure of Charleston, Industrial Advisory Council, and Opportunities Industrialization Center Inc. of Charleston. Mr. James was finance committee chairman of the Martin Luther King, Jr. West Virginia Holiday Commission and former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the First Baptist Church of Charleston, where he enjoyed the Men's Sunday school class. He was a member of the Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and held life memberships in the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Mr. James is survived by his wife, Lucia Bacote James; sister, Harriett James Kirk of Fairfield, Calif.; son, Charles H. James III and his wife, Jeralyn, of Lake Forest, Ill.; three daughters, Sheila J. Pleasant and her husband, Reginald "Rex," of Louisville, Ky., Stephanie D. James, M.D., and her husband, Gary Williams, of Springfield, Pa., and Sarah J. Irby and her husband, Derek, of New York, N.Y; and nine grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 6, at First Baptist Church of Charleston, 432 Shrewsbury Street, with the Rev. Paul A. Dunn officiating.
The family will receive friends, at the church, one hour prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly suggests that a contribution be made on Mr. James' behalf to the West Virginia State University Foundation Scholarship Fund, 200 Erickson Alumni Center, P.O. Box 1000, Institute, WV 25112, where it will be placed in the existing C.H. James Scholarship Fund, or to HospiceCare, 1143 Dunbar Ave., Dunbar, WV 25064.
Preston Funeral Home, Charleston, is serving the family.
Charles Howell James II passed away peacefully at home in Charleston on September 15, 2007, following a long illness.
President and chairman of the James Corporation, he worked over 30 years in his family's 124-year-old food distribution business. A member of the third generation who operated the business, C.H. James II served as president and CEO of James Produce Company and C.H. James & Co. until 1988, when his son, Charles H. "Chuck" James III, the current and fourth-generation president and CEO, succeeded him. Chuck moved C.H. James & Co. to California in the mid-1990s and has continued to operate the company since that time. The company has been recognized on numerous occasions as being one of the oldest and largest black businesses in the country.
Born in Charleston on November 22, 1930, Charles H. James II was the sixth of seven children of Edward L. James Sr. and Stella Shaw James.
He graduated from West Virginia State College Elementary School and West Virginia State College Teachers' Training High School in Institute. After completing his sophomore year at West Virginia State, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance and Commerce where he was elected to the Beta Gamma Sigma Honorary Scholastic Society and graduated in 1953 with honors, earning the Bachelor of Science in economics. After serving as an Air Force lieutenant in Japan, he joined the family business. Grounded in the wisdom and early business strategies developed by his father and his grandfather, C. H. James (the 19-year-old who founded the company in 1883), he used his formal education to combine theory with practice and the traditional with the cutting-edge. In 1992, after 36 years in the family business, he undertook a second career as internal auditor at West Virginia State College; he relished the experience in that new domain where he could apply his meticulous skills.
He received many awards and honors, among which included meeting with President Jimmy Carter in the White House with other Black Enterprise "BE 100" CEOs; The Wall Street Journal Dow Jones Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence; W.Va. Minority Business Development Center-Lifetime Achievement Award: Business; The Hazo W. Carter Presidential Award for Business Acumen, W.Va. State University; the W.Va. State University Foundation Inc. Second Century Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Business in West Virginia; and special recognition from U S Small Business Administration.
Active in community affairs for several decades, he served on numerous boards and committees, in various capacities, including: Kanawha International Airport Authority (now Yeager Airport), Charleston Chamber of Commerce and the Committee of 100, Future Farmers of America, United Fund of Kanawha Valley, Buckskin Council, Boy Scouts of America, Mayor's Commission on Interstate Understructure of Charleston, Industrial Advisory Council, and Opportunities Industrialization Center Inc. of Charleston. Mr. James was finance committee chairman of the Martin Luther King, Jr. West Virginia Holiday Commission and former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the First Baptist Church of Charleston, where he enjoyed the Men's Sunday school class. He was a member of the Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and held life memberships in the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Mr. James is survived by his wife, Lucia Bacote James; sister, Harriett James Kirk of Fairfield, Calif.; son, Charles H. James III and his wife, Jeralyn, of Lake Forest, Ill.; three daughters, Sheila J. Pleasant and her husband, Reginald "Rex," of Louisville, Ky., Stephanie D. James, M.D., and her husband, Gary Williams, of Springfield, Pa., and Sarah J. Irby and her husband, Derek, of New York, N.Y; and nine grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 6, at First Baptist Church of Charleston, 432 Shrewsbury Street, with the Rev. Paul A. Dunn officiating.
The family will receive friends, at the church, one hour prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly suggests that a contribution be made on Mr. James' behalf to the West Virginia State University Foundation Scholarship Fund, 200 Erickson Alumni Center, P.O. Box 1000, Institute, WV 25112, where it will be placed in the existing C.H. James Scholarship Fund, or to HospiceCare, 1143 Dunbar Ave., Dunbar, WV 25064.
Preston Funeral Home, Charleston, is serving the family.
Charles Howell James II
Charles Howell James II passed away peacefully at home in Charleston on September 15, 2007, following a long illness.
President and chairman of the James Corporation, he worked over 30 years in his family's 124-year-old food distribution business. A member of the third generation who operated the business, C.H. James II served as president and CEO of James Produce Company and C.H. James & Co. until 1988, when his son, Charles H. "Chuck" James III, the current and fourth-generation president and CEO, succeeded him. Chuck moved C.H. James & Co. to California in the mid-1990s and has continued to operate the company since that time. The company has been recognized on numerous occasions as being one of the oldest and largest black businesses in the country.
Born in Charleston on November 22, 1930, Charles H. James II was the sixth of seven children of Edward L. James Sr. and Stella Shaw James.
He graduated from West Virginia State College Elementary School and West Virginia State College Teachers' Training High School in Institute. After completing his sophomore year at West Virginia State, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance and Commerce where he was elected to the Beta Gamma Sigma Honorary Scholastic Society and graduated in 1953 with honors, earning the Bachelor of Science in economics. After serving as an Air Force lieutenant in Japan, he joined the family business. Grounded in the wisdom and early business strategies developed by his father and his grandfather, C. H. James (the 19-year-old who founded the company in 1883), he used his formal education to combine theory with practice and the traditional with the cutting-edge. In 1992, after 36 years in the family business, he undertook a second career as internal auditor at West Virginia State College; he relished the experience in that new domain where he could apply his meticulous skills.
He received many awards and honors, among which included meeting with President Jimmy Carter in the White House with other Black Enterprise "BE 100" CEOs; The Wall Street Journal Dow Jones Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence; W.Va. Minority Business Development Center-Lifetime Achievement Award: Business; The Hazo W. Carter Presidential Award for Business Acumen, W.Va. State University; the W.Va. State University Foundation Inc. Second Century Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Business in West Virginia; and special recognition from U S Small Business Administration.
Active in community affairs for several decades, he served on numerous boards and committees, in various capacities, including: Kanawha International Airport Authority (now Yeager Airport), Charleston Chamber of Commerce and the Committee of 100, Future Farmers of America, United Fund of Kanawha Valley, Buckskin Council, Boy Scouts of America, Mayor's Commission on Interstate Understructure of Charleston, Industrial Advisory Council, and Opportunities Industrialization Center Inc. of Charleston. Mr. James was finance committee chairman of the Martin Luther King, Jr. West Virginia Holiday Commission and former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the First Baptist Church of Charleston, where he enjoyed the Men's Sunday school class. He was a member of the Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and held life memberships in the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Mr. James is survived by his wife, Lucia Bacote James; sister, Harriett James Kirk of Fairfield, Calif.; son, Charles H. James III and his wife, Jeralyn, of Lake Forest, Ill.; three daughters, Sheila J. Pleasant and her husband, Reginald "Rex," of Louisville, Ky., Stephanie D. James, M.D., and her husband, Gary Williams, of Springfield, Pa., and Sarah J. Irby and her husband, Derek, of New York, N.Y; and nine grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 6, at First Baptist Church of Charleston, 432 Shrewsbury Street, with the Rev. Paul A. Dunn officiating.
The family will receive friends, at the church, one hour prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly suggests that a contribution be made on Mr. James' behalf to the West Virginia State University Foundation Scholarship Fund, 200 Erickson Alumni Center, P.O. Box 1000, Institute, WV 25112, where it will be placed in the existing C.H. James Scholarship Fund, or to HospiceCare, 1143 Dunbar Ave., Dunbar, WV 25064.
Preston Funeral Home, Charleston, is serving the family.
Charles Howell James II passed away peacefully at home in Charleston on September 15, 2007, following a long illness.
President and chairman of the James Corporation, he worked over 30 years in his family's 124-year-old food distribution business. A member of the third generation who operated the business, C.H. James II served as president and CEO of James Produce Company and C.H. James & Co. until 1988, when his son, Charles H. "Chuck" James III, the current and fourth-generation president and CEO, succeeded him. Chuck moved C.H. James & Co. to California in the mid-1990s and has continued to operate the company since that time. The company has been recognized on numerous occasions as being one of the oldest and largest black businesses in the country.
Born in Charleston on November 22, 1930, Charles H. James II was the sixth of seven children of Edward L. James Sr. and Stella Shaw James.
He graduated from West Virginia State College Elementary School and West Virginia State College Teachers' Training High School in Institute. After completing his sophomore year at West Virginia State, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance and Commerce where he was elected to the Beta Gamma Sigma Honorary Scholastic Society and graduated in 1953 with honors, earning the Bachelor of Science in economics. After serving as an Air Force lieutenant in Japan, he joined the family business. Grounded in the wisdom and early business strategies developed by his father and his grandfather, C. H. James (the 19-year-old who founded the company in 1883), he used his formal education to combine theory with practice and the traditional with the cutting-edge. In 1992, after 36 years in the family business, he undertook a second career as internal auditor at West Virginia State College; he relished the experience in that new domain where he could apply his meticulous skills.
He received many awards and honors, among which included meeting with President Jimmy Carter in the White House with other Black Enterprise "BE 100" CEOs; The Wall Street Journal Dow Jones Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence; W.Va. Minority Business Development Center-Lifetime Achievement Award: Business; The Hazo W. Carter Presidential Award for Business Acumen, W.Va. State University; the W.Va. State University Foundation Inc. Second Century Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Business in West Virginia; and special recognition from U S Small Business Administration.
Active in community affairs for several decades, he served on numerous boards and committees, in various capacities, including: Kanawha International Airport Authority (now Yeager Airport), Charleston Chamber of Commerce and the Committee of 100, Future Farmers of America, United Fund of Kanawha Valley, Buckskin Council, Boy Scouts of America, Mayor's Commission on Interstate Understructure of Charleston, Industrial Advisory Council, and Opportunities Industrialization Center Inc. of Charleston. Mr. James was finance committee chairman of the Martin Luther King, Jr. West Virginia Holiday Commission and former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the First Baptist Church of Charleston, where he enjoyed the Men's Sunday school class. He was a member of the Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and held life memberships in the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Mr. James is survived by his wife, Lucia Bacote James; sister, Harriett James Kirk of Fairfield, Calif.; son, Charles H. James III and his wife, Jeralyn, of Lake Forest, Ill.; three daughters, Sheila J. Pleasant and her husband, Reginald "Rex," of Louisville, Ky., Stephanie D. James, M.D., and her husband, Gary Williams, of Springfield, Pa., and Sarah J. Irby and her husband, Derek, of New York, N.Y; and nine grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 6, at First Baptist Church of Charleston, 432 Shrewsbury Street, with the Rev. Paul A. Dunn officiating.
The family will receive friends, at the church, one hour prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly suggests that a contribution be made on Mr. James' behalf to the West Virginia State University Foundation Scholarship Fund, 200 Erickson Alumni Center, P.O. Box 1000, Institute, WV 25112, where it will be placed in the existing C.H. James Scholarship Fund, or to HospiceCare, 1143 Dunbar Ave., Dunbar, WV 25064.
Preston Funeral Home, Charleston, is serving the family.
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