James A. “Jim” Fuqua, 91 of Winfield, Alabama was born March 25, 1928, in Birmingham, Alabama to the late James Fuqua and Margaret Fuqua. He was the oldest of two children. Died on Saturday, March 7, 2020, at Fayette Medical Center Long Term Care in Fayette, Alabama.
Jim served in the United States Marine Corps from 1947 to 1951, earning a rank of Sergeant. After active duty he joined the Marine Reserves serving as a drill instructor. He married his beautiful wife of 69 years, Rebecca Bowlin on August 15, 1950 while he was stationed at Marine Corps Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
In 1951, Jim returned to his career as a machinist at Acton Welding Machine Company in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1954, he began working for Continental Gin and moved to Winfield, Alabama in 1960 to assist with a grassroots facility later known as Continental Conveyor. Jim worked at Continental Conveyor for 32 years and retired as Operations Superintendent in 1992.
Jim loved to work on air planes and flying them. His most treasured air plane was a 1941 PT-13 D Stearman that he spent 23 years rebuilding. He enjoyed giving rides in his open cockpit plane. Jim liked to watch his passenger’s face when he did a “loop-to-loop”. Jim served as Civil Air Patrol Commander from 1963 to 1973. Jim was a deacon at Fulton Bridge Baptist Church from 1980 to 2016 and served as a Gideon from 1981 to 1986.
Visitation: 4:30 – 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 10, 2020, at the Bowen Funeral Home in Winfield, Alabama.
Funeral Service: 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 10, 2020, at the Bowen Funeral Home Chapel.
Burial: West Alabama Memorial Gardens in Gu-Win, Alabama.
Officiating: Reverend Mike Stancil
In lieu of flowers the family request that donations be made to The Gideons International, Processing Center/ P. O Box 97251 Washington, DC 20090-72051, 1-866-382-4253 or http://www.gideons.org.
