James Wallace Carrico, Jr.

James Wallace Carrico, Jr., was born on December 24, 1930, and according to his birth certificate he was born in Swan Township, Warren County, Illinois. In later years he would tell people he was born in Roseville, Illinois. He was the fifth of six surviving children born to James Wallace Carrico, Sr., and Nannie Edwina Smith Carrico.

James died on June 30, 2026, of various natural causes. He is survived by his son David Carrico of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; three grandchildren, Jennifer Lynn of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Jeff Carrico of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Jillian Jones of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; six great grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren; and various nieces, nephews, and cousins, having been preceded in death by his parents, his siblings, and his wife, Mona Kate Searcy Carrico.

James was raised on a working farm during the Great Depression and World War II eras and learned the necessity and the value of hard work at an early age. He was operating farm machinery as soon as his feet would reach the pedals, and his father taught him how to tear down and rebuild an engine when he was thirteen. Those were skills that proved valuable in his adult life.

James left high school before graduation at the age of 17 after the school principal told him he was too short to play on the basketball team. He enlisted under-age in the newly created United States Air Force, a decision that shaped his adult life. In a discussion held not long before he passed away, he recalled a memory of his mother crying as she signed the form that allowed him to enlist.

His first assignments in the Air Force involved heavy machinery operation cutting roads through places where no roads had been before. An early post had him at Holloman Air Force Base, outside of Alamogordo, New Mexico. That was where he met his soon-to-be wife, Mona Kate Searcy, daughter of a local businessman and a schoolteacher. James in a dress uniform or a sport coat was a handsome gregarious young man, and they connected. They were married on November 4, 1950, and enjoyed a marriage of 71 years, ending only in her death on December 22, 2021.

Their son David was born on November 23, 1951, at a time when James was serving on a post on Barrow Island, Alaska. James did not get to see or hold his son until mid-1952.

By 1959 James had trained and qualified as an electronics technician and was assigned to the Strategic Air Command supporting B-47 and B-52 squadrons from posts at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska; Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska; Homestead Air Force Base in Miami, Florida; and K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base near Marquette, Michigan, where he eventually retired after 22 years of honorable and faithful service. James enjoyed the hands-on nature of his work but also expressed satisfaction at being involved in mentoring and training younger enlisted men that were placed under his leadership, a skill and attitude that continued to be displayed even in his retirement years.

Post-retirement, after a brief stint with the American Red Cross, James worked in automotive maintenance and fleet management roles while Mona pursued education goals, and in 1974 they relocated to Denton, Texas, as she earned a Master's Degree from Texas Women's University. James worked at the Peterbilt factory for a number of years, eventually retiring from that job to spend some time traveling with Mona until her health began to decline. Most of the last phase of his life was spent caring for Mona and lovingly supporting her until her death in 2021. His last years were spent quietly in Denton, occasionally going to the local VFW post and reminiscing with friends and acquaintances there.

James was a life-long agnostic as an adult, and at his explicit direction there was no memorial service held for him. He is buried together with Mona's ashes in the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery in Section 48, Grave 168.