James R. Beasley

James was born April 18, 1939 to R. D. and Gladys Beasley in Wichita Falls, Texas. He moved with his family as an infant to Dallas (Cockrell Hill) and lived his entire life in the Dallas area.

James graduated from Sunset High School in 1957 and from North Texas State College (now UNT) in 1961 with a BBA in Accounting. After a time with the Naval Air Reserve, he became a Certified Public Accountant in 1965. The first half of his career began with the public accounting firm of Parish, Murrell and Co; then in 1976 he, Wendell Judd, Mart Thomas, Fred Smith, and Bill Shamburger built the foundation for another large Dallas CPA Firm. The second half of his career, since 1987, was as a CLU and ChFC, spent in the diversified financial services business with a concentration in insurance, annuities, and estate planning.

James was a talented singer and sang with various choirs since high school. His last musical involvement was with the New Song Senior Adult Community Choir based at Wilshire Baptist Church. The choir will sing at his memorial service in celebration of his life.

His sense of humor, kindness, resilience, intelligence, love of music, and list-making skills will be missed by all of his friends and family.

James is survived by his wife, Vickie, sons Brian (and Lee Ann), Brad (and Kathy), and Brent (and Jamie), step-daughter Kristi Hovanetz (and Steve), and step-son Scott Sanders, as well as his sisters Tobye Burgin and Sandy Fivecoat and their families. He loved his nine grandchildren: Leah Brooke, Anna, David, Jake, Will, Sam, Ivy, Kelsey, and Seth. He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Linda.

A memorial service will be held at Wilshire Baptist Church Monday, December 17 at 2:00 pm. He will be buried in a private service at Grove Hill Cemetery.