Carolyn C. James

Mother moved to Hampton, as a child, when her parents, Carlton Richard and Alma Powers Carter, brought their family and became lifelong residents. A graduate of Hampton High School and founding member of Wythe Presbyterian Church in Hampton, Mom made a great many lifelong friends amongst her beloved Church-family and co-workers from as far afield as the original Daily Press’s Accounting department, as an educator in the Hampton City schools, Administrative positions at Ft. Monroe and Shelton on the Bay Retirement Home, volunteering at the former Dixie Hospital and, before retiring from her Administrative career at NASA after having completed a long-held dream of earning her college-degree in Administrative Science at the age of 63.

It was while working in the Accounting department at Langley AFB’s NCO club, that Mom met and married her future husband (in 1956), Clayton “Red” (to family) & “Jesse” (to His NASA colleagues) James, our beloved Father, of Scranton, Pa., while he was stationed at Langley, serving in the USAF, prior to starting his career at NASA, in engineering, and with whom she shares an enduring and eternal love and, beside whom, she will be reunited when laid to rest, following a short illness, at home, in the adoring care of her awe-inspired sons, Robert Mark James and Terry Alan James.

Mom is a magnet for joy and was born with the rare gift of loving unreservedly and has lived the convictions of her profound faith, as She encountered the travails and joys of this fragile life every single day of her long and, well-lived life. Mom loved dancing and socializing with her countless friends and family; gardening; the sweetness of The Hallmark Channel; her grand-children: Bryce, Taylor and Brian and great-grandchildren Chayton and Cooper; many grand-dogs who adored and revered her, and competed with her for the grandest voice, as Mom made her nightly telephone calls to check in with Barbara King, her friend of 70 years and other old and dear friends Evelyn Tefteller and Ms. Nina Byrd, and dearly departed friends Jackie Stamper and Peggy Wagoner, among many others; good food; late-night reading; watching the cardinals at her bird-feeder; deep, belly-laughs that sprung from a bottomless well of great humor; shopping; decorating and gathering with friends and family for holidays and giving lovingly wrapped gifts and cards; singing, especially in her beloved Church choir; gardening and flowers; intensive reading of the Bible with her Church circle and Lunch Bunch; travel, including a great many family trips that included a large NASA group trip to witness the December of 1972 launch of Apollo 17, at Cape Canaveral, Florida and a magical trip to Mexico. Mom took tremendous delight in maintaining her home, as well as in her wardrobe, jewelry, cosmetics and perfumes. Mommy enjoyed discussing the affairs of this ever-changing world and regaling family and friends with vibrant stories drawn from the rich and entertaining treasure-trove of her long, crystalline memory. Moreover, Mom loved art, music and creativity, enjoyed crocheting, and the natural majesty of mountains, the beach, camping at lakes, all animals and; especially, butterflies.

God called our dear, sweet Mother Home because he needed a Saint, alongside Him, in Heaven. Dearest Carolyn was preceded in the transition of Her spirit by Her loving husband, Clayton; dear brother, Gene Thomas Carter and his sweet, talented and devoted wife, Cheryl Meidinger-Carter, both of Hampton; beloved sister, Ann Marlene Newcomb and her beloved husband Melvin Linwood Newcomb, both of Petersburg, Va. and, is survived by their daughter, Linda Gail Prior and her dear, sweet husband Mark, also of Petersburg. Our Mother is, also, survived by her two loving, devoted and worshipful sons, Robert Mark and Terry Alan who will, along with the dearest of friends, forever, struggle with the void left by this brightest of stars.

Mom’s generosity, unconditional love, fiscal acumen and responsibility for the family home, made her a full partner in the loving care her sons were honored to provide, with the compassionate and intelligent, dedicated support of hospice, and other healthcare professionals and support workers, other family and dear, committed friends, during the brief; albeit, intense and beautiful, concluding days of the life she enjoyed so deeply and lived with such irrepressible vitality as she was the undisputed life of the party of her life.

During the rare luxury and blessing of time and constant togetherness we shared; especially, in the weeks following her diagnosis and acceptance, it was our eternal honor to have showered worshipful care on Mother, the Divine Vessel who conceived, nurtured and gave birth to her family, to which She is eternally steadfast in absolutely unconditional love and support.

The enormity of the experience of Mom’s passing demonstrated the formidable resolve, strength, dignity and forbearance of this incomparable lady, our Mother, whose quiet humility was, and remains, a stalwart, gentle, fierce and selfless champion of our family and with her critically intelligent and profoundly inquisitive nature. Her continuing gifts, such as the advance organizing of her affairs and final instructions, have shown our Mother to be our North Star to humanity, as we’ve grown to realize and appreciate the fragility of all human beings (and animals!), struggling to build lives and make it through in a world that guarantees nothing, and in which breakthroughs into our better selves, sometimes, come, regrettably late, as we confront the anguish and despair of the loss of Loved Ones.

According to the Order of Service, Dearest Lady, Carolyn James, and Her family, will receive her guests for visitation and viewing, between the hours of 6:00 - 8:00 PM on Wednesday, February 15th, at Parklawn-Wood Funeral Home, located at 2551 North Armistead Avenue, in Hampton. The following morning, Thursday, February 16th, at Wythe Presbyterian Church, located at the corner of Kecoughtan Road & 151 Robinson Road, in Hampton, there will be a viewing from 10:00 AM, prior to the 11:00 AM Service, celebrating Mom’s life, to be officiated by Mother’s dear Pastor, and whom we’ve embraced as our own dear friend, Dr. Donna DeSarro-Raynal and, later, laid to rest, in the Garden of Brotherly Love at Parklawn Memorial Park, nearby to her beloved, Sainted parents; Carlton and Alma.

Donations to Wythe Presbyterian Church, to benefit the support of its membership, and music program would be a loving, fitting and greatly appreciated gesture made in honor of Mom. Additionally, please remember to honor the love and compassion of dedicated hospice and allied healthcare professionals and well-being support individuals whose tireless work may ease the passing of Beloveds from their loving ones as the fullness of time comes to us all. Most importantly, may we strive, always, to remember to love and draw everyone to our hearts in this moment we know ourselves to be in.

Sweetest Lady-Mother, rest well in your Heavenly Home and in the company of Daddy and all those who went before, whom await you and whom you love, until we are commended in your loving embrace and look upon us with that loveliest of tender smiles, once again in the eternal life and joy and peace of Heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ….

Your loving and devoted family………

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared below for the James family.