Roll Call Tribute

Bates Family Funeral Home obituary
601 East Front Street
DeKalb, TX 75559
Phone: (903) 667-2009
Fax: (903) 667-0419

James W. Dalby
December 29, 1961 - November 13, 2016

James Winston Dalby, of Dalby Springs, Texas, passed away peacefully at 6:30 PM on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016, at UT Southwestern Clements Hospital in Dallas, after a brief but intense battle with metastatic melanoma cancer. He was 54.

James was born December 29, 1961, in Texarkana, Texas, to Clarence Winston Dalby, Jr. and Helen Young Dalby. He graduated with honors from DeKalb High School in 1980 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural engineering from Texas A&M University in 1985. He was a fifth generation Texan, farming and ranching on land in the Dalby Springs community where his family has lived and farmed since 1839. James married Debbie Wilhite of Mt. Vernon, TX, on March 4, 2006, and they welcomed a son, Jonathan Winston Dalby, on May 23, 2007. He has been an integral and beloved part of the DeKalb and Dalby Springs communities.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Clarence Winston Dalby Jr. and Helen Young Dalby.

James is survived by his wife, Debbie Dalby of Dalby Springs; his son, Jonathan Dalby of Dalby Springs; a sister, Martha Jane Dalby of Longview, Texas; three aunts: Margaret Dalby Fowler of Kearney, Nebraska, Della Dalby Icenhower of Sulphur Springs, Texas, and Marie Kotar Young of Pineville, Louisiana; his father-in-law and mother-in-law Wilbur and Janice Wilhite of Mt. Vernon, Texas; and numerous other family members and close friends.

Services will be 2:00 PM, Friday, Nov. 18, 2016 at Bates Family Funeral Home in De Kalb, Texas. Interment will follow at Dalby Springs Cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016 at Bates Family Funeral Home in De Kalb, Texas.

Memorials may be made to the Dalby Springs Cemetery Association, c/o Debora Ford, 9191 US Highway 259 S DeKalb, TX 75559