Stella James

Stella M. James, 90, of Port Orchard, Washington, died at Port Orchard Care Center on May 8, 2001. Stella was born January 1, 1911 in Geddes, South Dakota, to Thomas & Clara (Crane) Maiden.She attended high school in Geddes and college in Illinois where she graduated in 1934. She married Robert F. James July 16, 1947 in San Diego, California. Robert preceded Stella in death in 1996.Stella taught school in a 1 room schoolhouse on the prairies in South Dakota. She later worked as an Illustrator with Lockheed Aerospace in California and at Bangor, Washington, where she retired after 30 years. She served on the Board of The Bremerton Community Concert Association and was an active member of The Society of St. Vincent dePaul.Survivors are her sister Thelma Gilbert of Kansas City, Missouri, and sister-in-law Alice Johnson of Tucson, Arizona.A Funeral Mass will be held Monday, May 14, 2001 at 1:00 Pm at St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Port Orchard. Memorials may go to Society of St. Vincent dePaul, 1209 Bay St, Port Orchard, WA 98366.The following is a quote from Stella in a local newspaper when Stella was 84 years old:''Since 1928, I've never been without a job. I got out of high school in 1928. The only thing a female could do in those days was go to school for three years and be a nurse or for one year and be a teacher.I needed the money, so I choose the one year... I taught in rural South Dakota for $100 a month. Then they lowered the wages to $30...I worked in a TB hospital (summers), enrolled in college, and taught in parochial school...When I went to Detroit, it was really getting bad (the Depression). The only thing I could find was in a laundry, with five big steam-pressers, for 25 cents an hour!By then the war was on. I went visiting friends in San Diego, and I no more got off the bus than someone wanted me to work for them!'' - Stella James, 84