James, 81, died July 17, 2010, in Littleton, Colorado. He lived in the Denver/Littleton, Colorado, vicinity his entire life except for a brief period in the U.S. Army and smokejumping at McCall, Idaho, the summers of 1950, 51, and 52.

In October 1946, he entered the U.S. Army and his employer was recorded as being the U.S. Forest Service. By the summer of 1950 he was discharged, and started smokejumping at McCall, Idaho. James had four fire jumps in 1950, six in 1951, and five in 1952.