Roy James Scholarship Fund

Roy James was born in 1929 as one of 10 children to Frank and Effie H. James on a farm at Indian Hill on the banks of Green River in Edmonson County, Kentucky where he grew up and graduated from Brownsville High School in 1949.  Roy completed a bachelor degree at Bowling Green Business University with a major in accounting in 1953.  Immediately following graduation, Roy was drafted in the US Army, went to finance school at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana and served as payroll specialist stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, at Oahu, Hawaii, and in Seoul, Korea during the Korean Conflict.  After honorable discharge, he returned to Louisville, Kentucky where he worked for Humphrey Robinson CPA’s.

Roy soon desired to return to his roots in Edmonson County where he began teaching accounting and business courses at Brownsville High School in 1956 and later completed his master’s degree and Rank I certification at Western Kentucky University.  During his 32 year career at Edmonson County Schools, Roy held many administrative positions including high school principal, assistant principal, vocational coordinator, finance officer, and superintendent.  During his term as superintendent, Roy hired Bowman “Bo” Davenport as the boys’ basketball coach who led the team to a historic state championship in 1976.  He was also instrumental in the expansion of the vocational programs at Edmonson County High School. 

In addition to his leadership abilities, Roy’s gift was teaching and enlightening students from a small rural county with the knowledge and skills to succeed in accounting.  He greatly believed in the value of a good education, ambition, and work ethic to achieve a great life.  Through his education in accounting and experiences that had taken him from a small farm in Brownsville across the United States and around the world, he knew what was possible for the students of Edmonson County and how to prepare them.  He had a very unique ability to identify every student’s talent and built relationships with students to motivate them toward successful careers in accounting.  He took great pride and satisfaction in knowing so many of his students that achieved great professional accounting careers.

Roy retired from Edmonson County Schools in 1989.  In addition to his career in education, Roy was a Kentucky Colonel, elected several terms to the Brownsville City Council, served as a member of the Edmonson County Library Board, provided tax and bookkeeping services to many local businesses and individuals, and operated a cattle farm.  As a young man, Roy professed salvation and faithfully upheld and exhibited the teachings of the Bible to mentor young people in his daily life.  He was married to his wife, Dorothy Beckner James, for 54 years until his death in 2013.  To this union were born a son, Barry W. James, and a daughter, Kathy J. Meredith, both graduates of Edmonson County High School and Western Kentucky University.

To continue Roy’s legacy, this scholarship fund will continue to facilitate the successful accounting careers of Edmonson County graduates in perpetuity.