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Blanche Faye James passed from this life to her new life Sunday, November 30th in Muskogee, Oklahoma at 65 years of age. She had been battling breast cancer for the past few years.
Faye was born in Oakland, California on Sept. 17, 1943 to John Frederick Ashwood and Blanche Mae Shackelford. During World War II, her mother Blanche helped build warships by riveting and welding while John was serving in the Marine Corps. Faye built a strong relationship with her only sibling, Johnnie Mae Tadlock as the two girls grew up in various cities, but eventually settled on Muskogee as their primary residence.
Faye began the greatest trip of her life at the age of 10 when she gave her life to Christ at First Baptist Church in Muskogee. She found a lifelong traveling partner when she married Jerry James December 20, 1963. She also found another family as Jerry’s parents, Mary and G.A. James, quickly became second parents to Faye.
Faye and Jerry spent the first 20 years of their union raising their three children and helping youths. She considered these her greatest achievements. She and Jerry served in the youth and music ministries of Timothy, Boston Avenue, Eastern Heights, and Grandview Baptist churches. They later volunteered in various capacities with ministries at First Baptist Church.
Faye worked at the Fuller Agency since 1964, serving as the office manager until her retirement earlier this year. Faye found yet another family as Jim and Katherine Fuller and their son Nick and his wife Laurie and their children showed Faye and her family love and generosity. She also had special relationships with her coworkers.
Faye and Beverly Todd were primarily responsible for creating the Kelly B. Todd Cerebral Palsy & Neuro-Muscular Center. Jim Fuller was instrumental in fundraising and securing the land and building for the site on N. 36th Street.
Faye volunteered for numerous causes as helping other people brought her great joy and fulfillment. She obviously enjoyed working with young people as a few of her volunteer efforts included tutoring, children’s bus ministry, Crisis Pregnancy Center, and numerous charities.
Faye developed a love for travel when as a child her dad would come home from his job as a truck driver and tell her stories about places he had been. The stories were so vivid that she wanted to see them all. She eventually got to see almost all of them as she would frugally save so that she and her family could go on one or two vacations a year. She visited all but a couple of the 50 states and a handful of foreign countries with her husband, family, and various friends accompanying her as traveling companions.
Besides traveling, Faye enjoyed movies, sporting events, skiing, gardening, cooking for her family, planning family get-togethers, writing letters, spending quiet time with God, conversing with friends and family and caring for and enjoying the company of various adopted stray pets.
She was preceded in death by her parents; John Ashwood in November of 2000 and Blanche in April of 2001. Faye is survived by her husband Jerry of Muskogee; her children, Jerry Edward James of Dallas, TX, Greg Ashwood James of Muskogee, Melissa Faye James of Alexandria, VA; her sister Johnnie Mae Tadlock and brother-in-law Charlie Tadlock of Muskogee; a special adopted granddaughter Kaitlynne Tackett, numerous nieces and nephews; a large extended family, plus an even greater number of church families and friends.
Family and friends are welcome to attend a time of visitation on Wednesday evening, December 3, 2008 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM in the parlor of First Baptist Church. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM, Thursday, December 4, 2008 in the First Baptist Church sanctuary with Lance Sawyer officiating. Interment will follow at the Greenhill Cemetery with Tom Coburn, Jesse Dearman, Ed Field, Harold Parsons, Dan Scott, and Mike Wise serving as pallbearers.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Kelly B. Todd Cerebral Palsy and Neuro-Muscular Center (1111 N. 36th St. Muskogee, OK 74401) as a memorial to Faye’s great effort for this very helpful organization. Donations may also be made thru First Baptist Church (111 S. 7th St. Muskogee, OK 74401) for her husband Jerry to cover expenses for his mission trip to Armenia in April of 2009 when he and the Singing Churchmen of Oklahoma will be singing for more than a million Armenians.
Faye had planned on making the trip also but she will be accompanying him on this trip in his heart and spirit.
The Family has entrusted Bradley Funeral Services of Muskogee with the arrangements.
Friends may send condolences to the family on the web page www.bradleyfuneralservices.com.
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