Roy Duane James passed away on January 30, 2021, at the age of 73. Roy will always be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather and friend to all that knew and loved him. Roy was born on June 17, 1947, to Helen and Jesse James in Hobart, OK. He grew up on military bases where his father served as a career naval officer.
After graduating from Kimball High School in Dallas in 1965, he was drafted into the Army and served over two years as a machine gunner in the Vietnam War. Roy was a member of the fourth Infantry Division, which patrolled the border between Laos and Vietnam. Roy was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor for heroic achievement against a hostile force and the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat.
Roy supported his family with various careers throughout his lifetime. He was an 18-wheeler truck driver, a bar manager, a dump-truck driver, and a service truck driver. But his favorite position was his last career as the catering chef at the Grapevine Convention Center. Here he was able to turn his love for cooking, especially at chili and barbeque cookoffs into a career he loved.
Roy was an avid outdoorsman and loved to spend his free time hunting, fishing and playing golf. He spent his winters either at his current year’s deer lease in West Texas or on the occasional ‘big hunt’ for Elk in New Mexico or Wyoming. Summers and fall were spent fishing. He loved to freshwater fish at Lake Grapevine or Lake Texoma, but he really loved deep sea fishing. He loved it so much, he studied and obtained a captain’s license so he could spend most of his free time off the coast of Port Aransas. When he wasn’t the captain for fishing charters, he was fishing with his buddies or fishing in tournaments. He called it his ‘Island Time’ where everything was at a slower and more enjoyable pace.
Roy supported several passions throughout his life. As a member of the Elks, he served on the Board of Directors of the Texas Elks Children’s Diagnostic Hospital. Later he became involved in the Joey Wilkin’s foundation helping the organization raise money by working the food truck at festivals and providing his captain services for fishing trip packages. However, his true passion was serving veterans, active-duty military and their families. Roy was a dedicated member of the Airport Cities VFW Post 10454 in
Grapevine, TX where, he served in several positions in addition to the post commander from 2016-2020. While serving as Commander, Roy was instrumental in helping to re-charter the auxiliary and expanding post membership. Roy was well-known at the Grapevine festivals (Main Street Days and Grapefest) for his famous turkey legs and brisket sandwiches when he was working to raise money for the Wilkins Foundation and the VFW.
Roy is survived by his parents, Helen and Jesse James of Mesquite, his wife of 35 years Joan Darilek James of Carrollton, his three daughters Heather Kelly and her husband Alan of Wylie, Holly Conant of Dallas, and Ashley James of Carrollton. His grandchildren: Kendall Conant, Conner Kelly, and Payten James. He is also survived by his brother Jim James and his wife Judy of Mesquite, niece Jennifer Duncan and husband, Clint, their daughters Caroline, Bella and Lizzy, and nephew Jonathan James.
Roy’s remains will be laid to rest at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery at a later date.
If you are unable to attend, Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home will be offering live streaming available by clicking on the "watch Livestream tab" near the funeral services at the bottom of this page.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Mid Cities- VFW Service Dog Project by visiting https://vfw10454.net/donate
If you wish to send flowers in honor of Mr. Roy James please contact Lilium Floral Design at 817-589-1566 or http://www.liliumflorals.com.
DONACIONES
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.8.18