Alice May James

Alice May James who was lovingly known as “Mother” or “Mom” to her children and “Nana” to her grandchildren and many others, was born on September 28, 1927, to Lloyd and Amanda Hill-Paschall in Anderson, SC. Alice grew up as a child in Augusta, GA where she attended Charles T. Walker Elementary School and Lucy C. Lane High School.

During her high school years, Alice met the love of her life, Samuel James. They became good friends and courted for a while. On September 5, 1943, Alice and Sam were married. They were married for 54 years. Alice and Sam migrated from the south to Philadelphia, PA for a brief period but then moved to Brooklyn, NY where they lived for several years. From their union, five children were born (Annie, Lorraine, Samuel, Jr., Patricia, and Cranston).

Alice loved the Lord and raised her children in church. While living in Brooklyn, the family attended Mt. Calvary Baptist Church under the leadership of the late Reverend C. L. Hill. The family later moved to Queens Village where they attended New Canaan Baptist Church under the leadership of the late Reverend Freddie Bottoms. Alice and her husband later became active members of Community Baptist Church (Deaconess and Deacon and Assistant Church Secretary) under the leadership of Reverend Archie Witsell, where she served for over 30 years. She attended bible college for three years at Morning Star Baptist Church where she graduated and received Evangelical Teachers Association (ETA) certificates which allowed her to teach and instruct in various areas of church ministry. Bible school teachings afforded Alice the opportunities to function in various ministerial capacities at Community Baptist Church (Junior and Senior Sunday School Teacher, Missionary Board, Field Missionary, Evangelist and Ministerial Board). Alice loved to sing, she sang on many choirs and performed duets with her husband at church functions.

While living in Brooklyn and Queens, Alice worked as a domestic worker. An injury to her hand became a blessing and led to a new occupation where she was hired at the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. While there, Alice received several promotions. She retired after 20 years of service.

In September 2009, Alice moved to Lanham, MD with her daughter and late son-in-law (Dr. Patricia and Elder Jacob Woodberry). She attended Bible Way Church in Washington, DC where she was baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Ghost. Alice became a very active member of the Missionary Ministry until her health started to decline in late 2018.

On October 3, 2020, Alice departed this life leaving behind to cherish her memory, her daughters Annie (Lewis), Lorraine and Patricia, many grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren and a host of other family and friends. She was predeceased by her mother (Amanda Hill-Paschall), father (Lloyd Paschall), husband (Deacon Samuel James, Sr.), two sons (Samuel James, Jr., and Cranston) a brother (Cranston Paschall) and one son-in-law (Elder Jacob Woodberry).