Peggy Ruth James

Peggy Ruth James, 89, a long-time resident of Colorado Springs, died November 11, 2022. Mrs. James, a writer, journalist, and community activist, had lived here since 1965 when she moved with her three children after the death of her military fighter-pilot husband during the Vietnam era.

She wrote for the then Gazette Telegraph from the 1960s through the early 1970s. The formation of “The Colorado Springs Magazine” occupied her time as editor, writer, and publisher from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. Later she became a political columnist for “The Colorado Springs Business Journal” from the mid1980s until 1994. She ran twice for city council. As a longtime volunteer at Memorial Hospital, she saw the need for change in that healthcare system.

She was appointed a member of “The Memorial Hospital Commission” in early 2010 and worked diligently on the Commission until its completion. She was very proud of the Commission’s part in the transition to the UCHealth System, feeling that good healthcare had been protected for this community for many years.

Mrs. James was born April 5, 1933, in Ayden, North Carolina to Jesse Wilber and Elizabeth (Deaver) Barfield. She graduated from Grifton High School with honors and from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC.

Married July 4, 1953, in Ayden to Lisle R. James II, she is survived by two daughters, Cheryl K. James (Leonard Moss) of Parker, CO, and Lisa R. James of Colorado Springs, and granddaughter Sarah Moss. She also is survived by her adopted family of twins Joel and Eric Anderson and Dylan, Jody Anderson and her daughter Katie Dassinger, Tiffany Retzlaff and her daughter Tesla. Also, Gloria Donnelly of Denver, to whom she served as a mentor throughout the years.

Mrs. James was preceded in death by Captain James, in 1964, and her son Lisle Russell James III, in 1969. She was the final survivor of her two brothers and one sister; she is survived by her sister-in-law Shirley Barfield and nieces and nephews Terri Persinger Benson, Dana P. Shaul, Gregory, Jeff and Billy Persinger, Cindy Rose, as well as cousins Ned, Brett, Mark and Spencer Deaver.

A Celebration of Life will be held on December 6 at 2 pm at Shove Memorial Chapel, 1010 N Nevada Avenue with a reception to follow at The Warehouse Restaurant, 25 West Cimarron St. Cremation has occurred, and her family placed her ashes in the Fort Logan National Cemetery plot alongside those of her husband and son.

Rather than flowers, Mrs. James asks to be remembered by donations to Children’s Hospital Colorado at https://secure.childrenscoloradofoundation.org/site/Donation2?df_id=4002&mfc_pref=T&4002.donation=form1&_ga=2.14900342.1595523949.1641226020-2002304462.1599838557