James was so much more than a diagnosis, or a job.

He loved reptiles. Before he moved in with me, he had a crested gecko named Puff, a leopard gecko named Jagger, and two bearded dragons, Red and Benny, plus a snake. He brought Red with him when he moved to Tennessee.

In the beard community, he was known as Big Stinky — a founding brother of Big Sexy Beard & Body, and a Beard Mobb brother. He loved camping and traveling to beard competitions in other states with his friends.

He farm-sat for Tom and Kara, and their farm was his happy place — the back porch was his favorite spot to just take it all in. He judged BBQ in Hope every year, something he looked forward to. He loved to fish, to help Tom look for gold in the creeks on Tom's property, and he was one of Tom's biggest supporters for his YouTube videos.

He had a prankster side, too — he would leave little gnomes hidden all over the house, and Tom says he still finds them.

Before his treatment started, all he asked for was one thing: to go camping and catfishing with his friends. So Tom and Ron took him for five days of fishing and camping, eating well and just enjoying being together.

He was the guy who would give you the shirt off his back or his last meal, and he never asked for anything for himself. He was a grandpa to Charlie, who brought back a spark in him we hadn't seen in years.

A seizure on September 14 led to finding metastatic non-small cell lung cancer that had spread to his brain, spleen, and adrenal glands. He fought through radiation and a heart attack this past weekend, and he died overnight on November 3, 2026. Ron said it best: once James got a glimpse of Jr on the other side, there was no way he was coming back.

His family who loved him: his sisters Sherri and Dawn, his brother Jay, his children Savannah and Braeden, his grandson Charlie, and a big crew of nieces and nephews. He carried the loss of his son James, who died in 2022 at just 15, and his brothers Marshall and Dorian, who passed before him.

Thank you to everyone who has donated, shared, and loved him. Donations now go toward his funeral expenses. Funeral details will be shared when they're ready.