Obituary

James F. Little Jr was born on August 30, 1928, in San Antonio, Texas, the oldest son of James (Sr.) and Eugenia (Ford) Little.  The family moved to Los Angeles, California when he was just a toddler, so he’s really a Californian at heart.  He started working at a young age, delivering milk and other groceries, and just basically doing whatever needed to be done.   One day while roaming his Hollywood neighborhood, he met a beautiful blond teenager named Darlene Stankey playing jacks on the sidewalk and his heart was taken forevermore.  Jim graduated from Hamilton High School and soon followed Darlene’s family to the San Fernando Valley, where he roomed with her grandmother until Darlene graduated from San Fernando High School; they were married 3 months later, in September 1949.

They had two children, Michael and Melanie.  Michael married Michele in 1978, and they created their family through adoption – Greg (born in 1986) and Sarah (born in 1989).  Melanie married Jerry Fabian in 1981 and their daughter Lisa was born in 1984; Lisa married her husband Pat in 2006 and they had their twin boys, Ethan and Jonah, in 2013 – quite a clan resulted from that chance meeting on a Hollywood sidewalk!

Jim was understandably proud of the fact that he was never out of work for more than a day throughout his entire working life.  He learned his trade from his beloved father-in-law, George Stankey, and his skills as a precision sheet metal mechanic were always in demand.   In his working life, he translated plans developed by engineers into actual parts, including the thrusters on the Space Shuttles.  He could literally build anything – including a teardrop travel trailer that the family enjoyed for many years, camping in the mountains and at the beach.  After retirement, Jim took up woodcarving, and designed many beautiful, intricate sculptures and wall hangings using the intarsia method.

Jim was beloved by his large family as well as many friends and caregivers – special thanks and appreciation to the staff at Capistrano Senior Living and TrueCare Hospice for taking such good care of him as he neared the end of his long and wonderful life.

A celebration of Jim’s life will be held on Tuesday, May 9, 2023 at El Toro Memorial Park at 11:00 a.m.   In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to one of his favorite charities:  www.stjude.org or www.woundedwarriorproject.org