He married Susan Templin. He had heart surgery and didn't survive. He died Oct. 4, 1962 at the Baptist Hospital in New Orleans. He is buried in Pine Rest Memorial Cemetery west of Foley, in Block A, "Nelson" Section, Lot 56, Space 8. His headstone only has 1962. The 1962 Onlookers were searched for the obituary and found.
About five or six of us went to Montgomery in 1959 for exams to enlist in the Army. One test for the heart, was hopping up and down with our hands on top of our heads. James flunked and was retested and flunked again. I thought that this was the first time that he learned of the heart problem. Speaking to Susan, she said that he fainted once during a basketball game, and suspected something might be wrong.