Obituary

James, Lester Wade,Jr. (Bobby)

Funeral services for former city councilman and longtime Plainview civic leader Lester Wade "Bobby" James Jr., 68, will be at 2 p.m. Thursday in First Baptist Church Chapel with Dr. Travis Hart, pastor, and Dr. Wallace Davis, president of Wayland Baptist University, officiating. The cremains will be interred in Parklawn Memorial Gardens at a later date.

Mr. James died at 9:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 30, 1998, at Integrated Health Services Heritage Home of Plainview.
A veteran of the U.S. Air Force who served in the Korean War, Mr. James was instrumental in a veterans memorial being established in Regional Park west of Kidsville, including a huge American flag which is lighted at night. That flag will fly at half staff on Thursday in his honor.

Mr. James led the council to build up city reserve funds, remove a tax on local vehicles, adopt a seven single-member district council, and help in the recruiting of the Wal-Mart Distribution Center for Plainview. "Bobby always brought the history of any issue to the council. He felt councilmembers should understand history before making key votes," said City Manager Jim Jeffers.

Mr. James was born Oct. 18, 1930, in Fort Worth, the son of the late Lester Wade and Laura Clark James. He moved to Plainview at a young age and attended Plainview schools. He graduated from Plainview High School, playing football for the Bulldogs. He received his bachelor?s degree from Baylor University.

He was executive vice president of Plainview Savings & Loan, founded by his father, for many years.
Mr. James served on the Plainview City Council from 1982-90 and was a past president of the South Plains Association of Governments which serves a 15-county region. He was serving on the Hale County Hospital Authority at the time of his death. The authority had helped negotiate the lease of the local hospital to the Methodist Healthcare System, now Covenant Healthcare System.

He was a longtime member of the Plainview Rotary Club. He was a Paul Harris Fellow and he and his father had started a Wayland Baptist University scholarship fund through Rotary. They also had endowed scholarships at Wayland and at Baylor University.

Mr. James also had provided funds for an attractive entrance to Wayland off Quincy Street several years ago in honor of his father and had been instrumental in purchasing property for Wayland?s proposed Fifth Street boulevard entrance to the campus. He was a member of First Baptist Church. On June 8, 1952, he married Irma Ruth Dodds in Plainview.

Survivors include his wife; one son, Jonathan Wade James of Plainview; one daughter, Laura Katherine "Katy" Wellman of Plainview; and three grandchildren, Alyse Anthony, Ellyn Anthony and James Anthony, all of Plainview.
His mother died Dec. 8, 1984; his father on Oct. 8, 1997; and a brother, Allen James, died Aug. 7, 1988. The family suggests memorials to Wayland University Rotary Scholarship Fund.