Rodney Lee James

Rod was born in Averill Park, New York in 1942 to Stephen and Golda James. He enjoyed a wonderful childhood and after a brief stint of being a rebel, he joined the Marine Corps at seventeen. During his service, he served as bodyguard for the Secretary of State in New York City. He then spent a short time in Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam era and was then stationed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where he learned to speak, read and write Mandarin Chinese. It was here he also met and married his first wife, Illona.

They returned to the United States, and Rod ended his active service with the Marine Corps after obtaining the rank of Corporal. He then went to school, majoring in chemistry, and was employed by G.E. where he worked in Research and Development.

Rod made his way to Las Vegas in 1971 and joined the Las Vegas Police Department in 1972. Shortly after, Las Vegas Police and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office merged and became the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, with Rod attending their first academy.

In 1980, he met his wife Linda after pulling her over for going a tad too fast while driving around Blue Diamond, where he was a resident deputy. Shortly after, they worked a small fire together as Linda had joined the volunteer fire department, and they became inseparable. They married in 1981 and enjoyed 42 years together, rarely leaving each other’s sides.

Rod was a wonderful father to his two children and an amazing grandfather to his three beautiful grandchildren. Known for a wicked sense of humor, he could make puns with the best of them and often liked to prank his wife, kids and coworkers. He was incredibly intelligent, a voracious reader, and was known for his knowledge of military history. His head was filled with random facts about almost everything, making it easy for him to converse with just about anyone. Music was always important to him, and he was self-taught in the guitar and piano, and wanted to learn the banjo. Everyone loved to hear him play. Rod was also skilled at Super Mario Brothers, where he could save the princess without difficulty, something he had to prove more than once to friends and coworkers.

Rod is survived by his wife Linda, his child from his first marriage Amber Meyer (Keith Meyer), his son Beau James (Dani James), and his grandchildren Donovan, Meagan and Mackenzie James, his brother and sister-in-law Gera and Cheryl Martin and many wonderful nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews. He is preceded in death by his parents Golda and Stephen James, and his sister Marilyn Pearson.