Funeral service will be 12:00 Noon on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, at Warner Temple AME Zion Church, 620 Nixon Street, Wilmington, NC . Burial will follow in Greenlawn Memorial Park. Visitation will be from 5:30 – 8:00 P.M. on Monday at the funeral home.

*Funeral Service Click Here*
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Josie Marie Smith James was born on September 9, 1930 in Wilmington, North Carolina.  She was the daughter of the late Fred Smith Sr. and Viola Davis Smith.  She departed this earthly life on September 27, 2022.  Josie received her education in the public schools of New Hanover County.  At an early age, she forfeited furthering her education for employment and to assist her single mother in raising her 3 younger siblings.  Josie was married to the love of her life, the late Emanuel James Sr., for 37 years until his death in 1986.  Together they had 14 children and raised 3 nephews and a granddaughter; instilling a strong bond of family in them all.  They also had a significant impact in the lives of many more relatives and friends.  In their home, you could always get a hot meal and stern direction from a place of love.  Josie was a self-taught Excellent Chef, Master Baker, Seamstress and Quilt Maker.  She retired from Catherine Kennedy Home as a Cook.  At an early age, she accepted Christ and was a long-term member of Warner Temple A.M.E. Zion Church, serving in many capacities.  She was a faithful member of the Deaconess Board and the A.M.E Zion Church Women's Home and Overseas Missionary Society.  Josie served as a Conference Worker, the Assistant to Class Leader No. 4, and the Leader of Class No. 7 for many years and dedicated numerous hours to the culinary staff and other clubs and organizations within the church.  She received numerous certificates of appreciation and awards for her dedication and selfless service. Josie was a strong, independent, self-sufficient, virtuous woman!  She loved fashion and was often referred to as a fashionista by her church family. In addition to her parents and her husband, Josie was also preceded in death by: two brothers, Fred Smith, Jr. and Lee Bradford Smith; two sisters, Dorothy J. Bannerman and Annie Marie Fuller; four grandsons, Michael James, Marcus James, Christopher A. James, and Adrian T. Smith, and one special granddaughter (daughter), Angela D. Propst. Josie leaves to mourn her passing: 17 children:  Zachary (Yvonne) James, Emanuel James, Jr., Daphine V. James, Roderick (Shirlene) James, Terry A. James, Audrey James, Marietta James and Marcellus James all of Wilmington, North Carolina, Angela T. James of Asheville, North Carolina, Sonya (Joshua) Ajayi of Miami, Florida, Lisa (Kelvin) Walker, Kathy James, Karen (Azeral) Fennell, Kenneth James, Curtis Smith, Larry Fuller, and Cory Fuller all of Wilmington, North Carolina, 45 grandchildren; 36 great-grandchildren, 4 great-great-grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends.