Roll Call Tribute

James H. Stokes 

July 4, 1926 - July 4, 2024 

James H. Stokes, 98, of Houston Texas passed away on his birthday, the 4th of July.

He was born July 4, 1926 in Joplin, Missouri. When he was 3 years old, the family settled in Texas where his father James Homer Stokes set up his medical practice and his mother Lela Lucille Dawson Stokes taught junior high school. During the Depression, Jim sold Saturday Evening Post magazines on street corners in Houston and he had a lawn mowing business with a push mower.

Jim’s father passed away when he was 10 years old and he became the man of the house and began to take care of fixing things. After his mother remarried, they moved back to the family farm outside of Houston where they raised cattle. Jim commuted to town each day to attend Lamar High School.

He attended college at Texas A&M University until he volunteered for the Army Air Corps. He served in the Troop Carrier Unit of the Antilles Air Command at Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico as a mechanic working on A-20s, A-26s, B-24s and B-29s.

After the war he returned to A&M and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He worked in the Pipeline Division of the Gulf Refining Company and throughout his almost 35 years with the Company, he traveled the world for work including Bolivia, Kuwait, Nigeria and Angola.

He met the love of his life, Betty Davis, asked her to dance at a New Year’s Eve party and they’ve been dancing ever since. They married in 1955 and had three children.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents and his daughter Carla Anne Stokes. He leaves behind his loving wife of 69 years, Betty Stokes of Houston; son, Jim Stokes, Jr. of Sugar Land, TX; daughter Sharon Oberst and husband John of Monmouth, OR and grandchildren Carla, Ian, Sean and Michael.