James Davis Norris, age 99, of Atkinson, formerly of Amelia, passed away peacefully on Thursday, November 24, 2016 at the Good Samaritan Center in Atkinson, Nebraska.  He had been residing there since early February 2014 following a bout of severe pneumonia.  A graveside service will be Saturday, December 10, 2016, at 11:30 A.M. at Myrtle Hill Cemetery in Hogansville, GA.  Rev. Harrison Cane will officiate.

Biglin's Mortuary in O'Neill is in charge of local arrangements.

James was the second son of the late William Wesley and Rose Bell Norris, Sr, and was born on June 4, 1917, in Hogansville, and grew up there.  He was a lifelong member of Ebenezer Presbyterian Church in Hogansville.  He graduated in 1934 from Hogansville High School.

James was honorably discharged as a Corporal from the Marines in May of 1941.  His employment in public transportation with Capital Transit Co. in Washington D.C. was considered essential as the United States entered World War II that December.  His later employment includes, in part; John H. Swisher and Son, Inc., in Jacksonville, FL, and in 1961 when his father died, at Uniroyal, Inc., in Hogansville.

In 1981, James moved to Denver, CO, to live with his daughter Nancy, and in 1994, they moved to Holt County, NE, where she purchased some acreage in Amelia, with an old home they have gradually been renovating.

James was always creatively talented, inventive and skilled in mechanical things.  He taught himself guitar and then harmonica.  He pursued his interest in photography and did his own developing on large photographs in his home mobile studio.

Survivors include his remaining sister, Martha Ashenfelder and husband John, of Suffolk, VA, 2 daughters; Nancy Rose Jellico of Amelia, NE, and Joan Marie Reinacher of Pine Mountain, GA, 4 grandchildren; Carol Anne Jellico of Denver, CO, Kenneth A Jellico of Littleton, CO, Leigh Wetherington of Medford, OR, and Dan Wetherington of Minneapolis, MN, 12 great grandchildren and 7 great great grandchildren.

James was preceded in death by his 2 brothers; William W. Norris, Jr, and Charles R. Norris, both of Jacksonville, FL, 2 sisters; Elizabeth Miller Cleveland of Jacksonville, FL and (Mrs. Perry) Dorothy Parker of Hogansville, GA, one daughter, Mary Kathryn Long of Medford, OR, and one granddaughter, Janice Jellico Stewart.