James Carl Deatherage

Oct. 5, 1933-Oct. 16, 2025

James Carl Deatherage, 92, passed away Oct. 16, 2025, in Sugar Land, Texas. He was born Oct. 5, 1933, in Delta County, Texas, to Carl Whitman Deatherage and Ruby Agnes (Roderick) Deatherage.

Funeral Services are scheduled Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 10 a.m. at the First Baptist Church in Pecan Gap. Interment to follow at Pecan Gap Cemetery. Mark Sanders will officiate. Visitation will be 6-8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20, at Delta Funeral Home Chapel in Cooper.

James Carl, as he was affectionately known in his hometown of Pecan Gap, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from East Texas State University (now East Texas A&M). He began teaching in the New Hope community and later taught in Floyd before spending most of his career as a superintendent at Delmar ISD and Roxton ISD in Lamar County. He retired in 1991 as superintendent of Nueces Canyon CISD, which served the communities of Barksdale and Camp Wood. James Carl touched the lives of countless students and took delight when he encountered them in the community.

His mother perhaps best described James Carl best when she said, “He likes to go, he likes to do, and he likes to eat.”

James Carl visited all 50 states - 49 of them by car.  He drove to Alaska from Texas more than once. He instilled a love of travel and adventure in his children and grandchildren with long summer road trips, setting up tents or a pop-up trailer in national parks or KOAs. His 80th birthday was 30 hours long because he spent it returning from Scotland with his youngest daughter. The pair later set out on American-style road trips in Germany and Ireland. If you ever met James Carl, we are sure he regaled you with tales of his travels – some of them more than once.

In the “do” category, James Carl loved to work. His mother recalled him leaving elementary school early once because he wanted to come home and work on the farm. He worked in grocery stores as a young man and never ceased to appreciate a well-organized market. In addition to being an educator, James Carl farmed as long as he was physically able. He enjoyed keeping old tractors running, driving them in small town parades and honking his “ooga” horn.

With regard to food, James Carl seldom met a steak, hamburger, ice cream cone, or piece of fried catfish he didn’t like. Dining at the Fish Place in Pecan Gap was a weekly ritual that had as much to do with socializing with friends and former students as it did eating all he could hold.

James Carl was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Peggy Ann Sandlin; daughter Jackie Taylor, and granddaughter Erica Lee White.

He is survived by son Carl Mark Deatherage of Cooper, Texas, and wife, Darlene; daughter Sherri Renee Green of Sugar Land, Texas, and husband, Michael; grandsons James Thomas White, James Roderick Green of Sugar Land, Jack Deatherage of Cooper, and Clayton Deatherage and wife, Elizabeth, of Klondike; granddaughters Carrie Ann Garvey of Sachse and Monica Lee George and husband, Jason, of Austin; four great-grandchildren, two step great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews, brother Ronnie Deatherage and wife Kathy of Rockwall.

Pallbearers are Clayton Deatherage, Jack Deatherage, James Roderick Green, Jason George, Scotty Deatherage, and Steven Briscoe. Honorary pallbearers are Barry Sandlin, Hobert Wayne Briscoe, and Jeff Scoggins.

Gifts in James Carl’s honor may be made to the East Texas A&M Alumni Association scholarship fund, the American Stroke Association, or the charity of your choice.

Online condolences may be made at www.deltafuneralhome.com

Services entrusted to Delta Funeral Home