James Perry Wylie Jr. was a man of remarkable intelligence, extraordinary creativity, quiet wit, deep faith, and unmistakable personal style. As the eldest of five siblings, he held a special place in the Wylie family as the firstborn and beloved big brother.

An Honor Roll student from kindergarten through 12th grade, James showed a rare artistic gift early, designing yearbook covers for Frankfurt American Junior High School and later his high school. He played the drums at Smiley Jr. High School in Denver; played football for the Edwards Packers and Frankfurt, Germany’s traveling team, “The Wolverines”; and played basketball in high school. In the 1980s, he was known behind the turntables as DJ “James Hound.”

James turned his creativity into a successful printing and signage business, Apple Pie Printing, and proudly called himself a print broker. He also loved to recall that, as a young adult, he became Georgia’s youngest licensed real estate agent.

Voted “Best Dressed” at Carthage High School in Upstate New York, where he sported a jacket that read “Wylie Coyote,” James carried that distinction throughout his life. He loved thrifting, even in Army surplus stores, and could bring seemingly unrelated pieces together as if they were made for each other.

Quiet and observant by nature, James had a delightfully sharp wit and a mischievous streak. He once mounted a huge spider on cardboard and rigged it to drop as a booby trap guarding his room. He enjoyed fishing and had participated in Toastmasters in his younger years. James also served his community as a board member of United Cerebral Palsy. Fascinated by artillery of every kind, he dreamed of serving his country, and being kept from military service by a medical condition was a heartbreak he carried throughout his life.

Above all, James had a deep and abiding love for the Lord. His faith was a steady foundation, and he became an ordained minister. After a stroke in his later years, the essence of James remained: his creativity, his wit, and the gifts that made him uniquely James shone through to the very end.

James loved his wife, Adrienne, and that love remained in his heart to the end.

James was preceded in death by his father, SGM James P. Wylie Sr. (Ret.), and his youngest son, David Wylie. He leaves to cherish his memory, his wife, Adrienne Wylie; his eldest son, Timothy Wylie; his mother, Marilyn Wylie; his sisters, Karen Elaine Everett (husband, Thomas Everett), Valerie Denise Wylie, and Stephanie Celeste Wylie; his brother, Ronson Earl Wylie; his aunt, Johnnie Mae Cherry; six nieces and nephews; three great-nieces and great-nephews; and a host of other loving relatives and friends.