James William Sites , age 96, passed away on June 24, 2022. He had been a resident of Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community, Harrisonburg, Virginia since December of 2003.

James was born in the old Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg on October 23, 1925, the son of Joseph E. Sites and Olivia Stearn Sites of Upper Tract, West Virginia. He was raised on a farm at Upper Tract and attended Pendleton County Public Schools where he graduated with the Franklin High School class of 1941.

James was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, Michael S. Sites and Joseph E Sites, Jr., and two sisters, Olivia Delena Sites, who died as an infant, and Patricia Sites Niswander. He is survived by two sisters, Sheila Sites Garrick of Rockledge, Florida and Diana Sites Alt of Rockville, Maryland. Also surviving are several nieces, great-nieces, and great-nephews. He never married.

James attended Potomac State College at age sixteen, and at age seventeen he enlisted in the Army Air Corps cadet program, where he became a second Lieutenant navigator in the Air Corps Troop Carrier Command. After the War, he earned his B.S. degree in Architectural Engineering at Virginia Tech. He followed a career in commercial construction in Richmond, VA, Charlotte, NC, and finally in Seattle, WA, where he was Vice President and Manager of Engineering for a major construction company. He then took early retirement and graduated with a Master of Arts in Theology Degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. He later returned to Harrisonburg to be closer to his family home.

James was a lifelong member of the Upper Tract Presbyterian Church, until it was closed, and he then transferred membership to the Franklin Presbyterian Church in Franklin, West Virginia.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Franklin Presbyterian Church or to the Salvation Army in Harrisonburg, VA. Final arrangements will be made by Basagic Funeral Home. There will be a private graveside service at the Cherry Hill Cemetery in Up per Tract, at a later date.