James Easley Edmunds III

James Easley Edmunds III, 87, of Halifax, Virginia, died Monday, March 17, 2003. A practicing attorney for over 50 years, Mr. Edmunds was active in civic affairs and a lifetime member of St. John’s Episcopal Church. Born and raised in Halifax County, he attended public schools, then Virginia Episcopal School and later the University of Virginia, where he graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1938 and from the University Law School in 1942. He was captain of the University basketball team and a three-letter man on the baseball team. He was president of the student body and also president of O.D.K., the national leadership society. Mr. Edmunds was a founding member of Halifax Regional Hospital, where he was a trustee for 50 years. As a board member and past president of the hospital, he was instrumental in the recruitment of doctors, the expansion of the hospital, and its overall growth. He served as a member of the Halifax County Board of Supervisors from 1967 to 1983. During his tenure, major public facilities, the senior high school and vocational center, Halifax County Farm Center and Library, and the Halifax County-South Boston Industrial Park, were constructed. In 1983, the board appointed Mr. Edmunds to lead the county’s opposition to a proposal to mine uranium in nearby Pittsylvania County. His efforts helped to create the Halifax chapter of the Southside Concerned Citizens organization, which defeated the project. An avid sportsman and an advocate for protection of natural resources, he was a founding member of the Halifax Sportsman’s Club. Mr. Edmunds was the recipient of many honors and awards, including the Halifax County Distinguished Citizens Award, the Sertoma Club’s Service to Mankind Award, and the Wildlife Conservation Award. He was inducted into the Halifax County-South Boston Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. He was predeceased by his wife, Lavinia Winston Edmunds. Surviving him are three daughters, Emma C. Edmunds of Charlottesville, Lavinia E. Hannaway and husband, John of Baltimore and Anne E. Sutphin and husband, Lee of Richmond; and five grandchildren, James and Emma Hannaway and Will, Elizabeth, and Peter Sutphin. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 20 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Halifax. The family will receive visitors at home. Memorial contributions may be directed to Project Prime, a program that gives scholarships and financial aid to Halifax Hospital employees and Halifax residents to pursue jobs in the health care field, 2204 Wilborn Ave., South Boston, Va. 24592, c/o Carolyn Cook; or to St. John’s Episcopal Church, Outreach Fund, P.O. Box 905, Halifax, Va. 24558. Arrangements by Powell Funeral Home, South Boston, Va.