James William Sites, 96, passed away on June 24, 2022. He had been a resident of Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, Virginia, since December of 2003.
He was born Oct. 23, 1925, in the old Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg, Virginia, the son of the late Joseph E. Sites and Olivia Stearn Sites of Upper Tract.
Mr. Sites was raised on a farm at Upper Tract and attended Pendleton County Public Schools where he graduated with the Franklin High School class of 1941.
He attended Potomac State College at age 16, and at age 17, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps cadet program, where he became a second lieutenant navigator in the Air Corps Troop Carrier Command. After the war, he earned his bachelor of science degree in architectural engineering at Virginia Tech. He followed a career in commercial construction in Richmond, Virginia, Charlotte, North Carolina, and finally in Seattle, Washington, where he was vice president and manager of engineering for a major construction company. He then took early retirement and graduated with a master of arts in theology degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He later returned to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to be closer to his family home.
Mr. Sites was a lifelong member of the Upper Tract Presbyterian Church, until it was closed, and he then transferred membership to the Franklin Presbyterian Church in Franklin.
He never married.
Surviving are two sisters, Sheila Sites Garrick of Rockledge, Florida, and Diana Sites Alt of Rockville, Maryland; and several nieces, great-nieces, and great-nephews.
He was also preceded in death by two brothers, Michael S. Sites and Joseph E Sites, Jr.; and two sisters, Olivia Delena Sites, who died as an infant, and Patricia Sites Niswander.
There will be a private graveside service at a later date at the Cherry Hill Cemetery in Upper Tract.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Franklin Presbyterian Church or to the Salvation Army in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Final arrangements were made by Basagic Funeral Home in Franklin.
