Jesse F. James

Jesse F. James, a master carpenter who lived on Hog Creek Road in Springs, died at Southampton Hospital on Jan. 5 at the age of 81. The cause of death was pulmonary arrest.

Mr. James worked for many local builders, among them Wesley Miller, Ed Pospisil, Dell Cullum, and Gene Futterman. Later in life he was a caretaker for the late Susan Tepper, an artist and philanthropist who founded the East Hampton Center for Contemporary Art. Most recently he worked for Sandpebble Builders until retiring just last year.

A cancer survivor, he recovered from leukemia 20 years ago and from several other forms of cancer since then. According to his family, he was a quiet, gentle man with the ability to listen intently to others, “Offering conversation when he had something to say, he didn’t just talk to talk,” his family wrote. His favorite pastimes were fishing and visiting his friends at the Commercial Dock on Three Mile Harbor.

Mr. James was born in Covington, Va., on Oct. 31, 1933, to Jesse James and the former Elizabeth Gosney. He moved to East Hampton at the age of 12 to live with his mother and stepfather, Thayer Macomber. He attended the Springs School and East Hampton High School before serving as a corporal in the Army at Fort Benning, Ga.

On Dec. 17, 1955, he married Anna Mae James, who survives him, as do two daughters, Jill James of East Hampton and Jody Griczewicz of Charlotte, N.C. A brother, Ralph James of Sag Harbor, a sister, Donna Gabbert of Plano, Tex., and three grandchildren also survive.

A private memorial will be held at a later date.