Services for him and for his wife, Marilyn, are postponed to a later date.
James was born on March 29, 1956, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Judith (Anderson) and James Arthur Pompey, Sr. He never knew his mother. His early years were spent in Michigan with his grandmother, with an aunt in Chicago, and later with an adoptive family in California. He graduated from Pacifica High School in Pittsburg, CA, in 1973, and joined the Navy the following year. He spent the next 17 years aboard ship, working in communications. Most of that time he was based in the western Pacific (Japan and Okinawa).
After his Navy discharge he moved to Hawaii. There he met his future wife, Marilyn Bowman, who was living and working in Honolulu as a tax accountant. In 1996 they both came to live and work in Kansas City, Missouri. His most recent employment had been as a long-distance truck driver with Swift Transportation and later with Salmon Companies. He loved driving, but was forced to retire in 2018 because of health issues.
His wife, Marilyn, preceded him in death by 7 weeks. The couple had no children. Survivors include: his mother-in-law, Evelyn Bowman of Lenexa, Kansas; Marilyn’s brother, Richard Bowman of Tucson, Arizona; and his best friend, Mark Mares of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Pompey, as he liked to be called, had a generous and loving spirit, and would often reach out to help others. His liver and two kidneys were donated for organ transplant. He also shared his wife’s love of animals. They almost always had several cats and dogs around them.
Burial for both Pompey and Marilyn will be in the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.
Donations in his memory can be made to The Pet Resource Center of Kansas City, 1116 East 59th Street, Kansas City, MO 64110; https://prckc.org/donate/.
