Richard Douglas James Sr.

Richard Douglas James, Sr. of Ashburn, VA, formerly of La Plata and Port Tobacco, MD, was called home on Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at the age of 88. Dick was born in West Chester, PA in 1931. He spent his childhood in Bethesda, MD and then moved to Port Tobacco as a teenager and graduated from La Plata High School in 1951. He served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict as an instructor of Engine Operation and Repair while stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, MD. Following his service, he attended and graduated from the University of Maryland in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Tech. Dick was an active member of the Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity. He met his beautiful wife, Marilyn, at a Sorority party in college and they were married at the University of Maryland Chapel and went on to raise four children. In his professional life, Dick started out as an Industrial Arts teacher but decided he wanted to get into sales. He had a successful career selling air tools, planning and designing banks and then selling bottling and canning machinery for Crown, Cork & Seal for over 17 years. After moving from Port Tobacco, Dick was an active volunteer at the Carilion Cardiac Rehab Center in Roanoke speaking with patients and delivering presentations regarding heart disease and his personal experiences with his double, triple, and quadruple bypass surgeries. He and his wife were active members of the -Second Presbyterian Church. With a desire to be closer to family, they moved briefly to La Plata and then to Ashby Ponds in 2016. Dick was a great son, brother, husband, and father. He loved people and loved to laugh. He was always there to help relatives and friends with household projects, cars, or whatever else people needed. He would travel during the week for work, and then he would spend most of his weekends cutting fields on his 1951 Ford 8N tractor, working on cars, going to the hardware store, or tinkering in the garage most times. During his free time, he loved to talk to his children, read, and listen to classical music. Summers were spent cruising on the Port Tobacco River with family on his boat or catching crabs near his dock and having crab feasts on his screened porch with family and friends. He is preceded in death by his parents, Leon and Mabel James, and his brother, David James. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn; their children, Richard James, Jr. and Katherine Hicks of Port Tobacco, MD, Thomas James of Centreville, MD and Donald James (Trudi) of Oak Hill, VA; grandchildren, Jennifer, Christina, Stephanie, Michael, Alaina and Clark; 0along with 9 great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, please send memorial donations to the American Heart Association. Funeral services will be private.

Richard Douglas James Sr.

November 4, 1931 - June 10, 2020