Cecil and Lucie James. Fiftieth Wedding Anniversay, 7th October 1975.
Cecil James, born 1900.
Builder and Mormon Bishop.
Cecil James was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming, USA, to which his parents had emigrated - his father from Wales and his mother from Scotland. After school he joined the US Navy, shortly before the end of the First World War. He made several Atlantic crossings serving on the Leviathan, then at ninety feet wide the largest ship afloat. A German luxury liner which had been converted by the Americans to a troopship. it carried 13,500 troops and crew of 3,000. After leaving the Navy he gained experience as a carpenter and roofer. A committed Mormon, he then joined a mission to Australia, where he put his carpentry skills to good use building Mormon churches and chapels. On his return he married Lucie, joined his father in the family timber and house building business. Projects included builing timber bunk houses and cook houses for the camps of an oil company. He built his own house in Rock Springs, where he and Lucie brought up their family of six. Active in both the church and the scout movement, he rose to be a Bishop of the Mormon Church. After retirement he and Lucie undertook another mission to Australia, being greeted on their return by their six children and nineteen grandchildren.