CLEARLAKE OAKS – This week friends are remembering a longtime Lake County resident for his community involvement, contributions to local and state politics, and his genuine and abiding interest in people and ideas.
David Lorey James of Clearlake Oaks died Saturday, a little over a week after his 81st birthday.
James had worked on Ronald Reagan's campaign for California governor in the 1960s, and after moving to Lake County he used his political acumen and fundraising skills to coach and encourage local leaders.
“The thing I'm going to remember the most about David is his unwavering integrity,” said friend Steve Davis.
James was known for being an advocate of conservative politics and causes, but didn't necessarily hold to party lines, as evidenced by his support for Ed Robey, a longtime local supervisor known for more liberal viewpoints.
“He was like a wise old owl,” Robey said Monday. “He had a tremendous power of observation and insight into things.”
Davis, a local Republican Party leader, said there was much more to James than met the eye, and that he was a man who kept many of his accomplishments to himself.
But he was forthright about his friendships. “If he respected you as a person he was your friend forever,” Davis said.
Davis said James had suffered from congestive heart failure for many years, and over the last few months his health had begun to undergo a serious decline.
Noting that, at the Feb. 2 Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Rob Brown – who has known James for more than a decade – offered him birthday greetings in advance of his 81st birthday, which he celebrated Feb. 5.
Brown said he wanted to take the chance to thank James publicly for being such a good friend to the county, and he thanked him for his wise counsel “and very much sought-after advice” which helped keep local leaders grounded.
Supervisor Jeff Smith also offered praise for James. “I don't think he even knows how much he has meant to me over the years, he said.
He added, “He's one of those treasures who is going to be irreplaceable.”
Davis said several friends of James' – including Smith, Ronnie Bogner and Davis and his wife, Elizabeth – gathered at James' Clearlake Oaks home last week, where they watched a DVD of the board meeting.
James wasn't one for taking much praise, said Davis. Toward the end of the comments on the video made by Brown and Smith, James said in reference to himself, “Yeah, he was a nice guy, wasn't he?”
He knew his time was coming and was prepared for it, said Davis, noting that James tried to make sure his wife, Loraine, would have few things to worry about after he was gone.
“There was a never a better husband,” Cobb resident and longtime James friend Don Emerson said. “He really, really loved his wife.”
Smith told Lake County News on Monday that he got to know James when he was working as treasurer for Jim Kennedy, who ran against Smith for his supervisorial seat 12 years ago.
They would eventually become good friends, with James being a mentor to Smith.
That role as mentor was one he held for many people, including Brown and Robey.
“He supported a lot of people regardless of their political affiliation,” said Brown, who added that James was very thoughtful about who he supported.
Robey, who has worked with computers for decades, first got to know James because he also was a computer enthusiast.
When Robey first decided to run for supervisor, James contacted him. “He said he wanted me to write down the reasons that I wanted to be a county supervisor and to draft a budget for the campaign and send them to him.”
Robey continued, “He basically was forcing me to think about why I was running and put together a budget to get a handle on what it was going to cost.”
That really helped – “especially the budget,” Robey said.
Robey called James a very practical and honest person. More than partisan politics, James was interested in good government. “He was really interested in the greater good of the community.”
Brown said he had James' support during his run for Assembly several years ago. James' connections and reputation helped Brown garner a lot of momentum for a strong run against Patty Berg, who ultimately won the race.
James was very quiet and very cool about his approach to things, said Brown. But when he spoke, “The few words that he had to say were very important.”
All of those who spoke about James remembered him as being tremendously generous.
He was a fixture at the Judge's Breakfast in Clearlake. “He was the only one that had a reserved seat,” said Robey.
Whenever someone came to ask for assistance and funds, Smith said James gave generously.
Recently, when he found out that the Lake County Community Action Agency needed help with a Christmas toy drive, Smith said James took them a $500 check.
James' interest in the community also was seen in a donation he made to the county in May 2008. He gave the county two historical prints by western artist Frank Magsino depicting the Bloody Island Massacre, an effort to help the county honestly remember its past.
Those who knew James recalled him as a man of great integrity who didn't blow his own horn.
But the Ohio State graduate's life had significant accomplishments and fascinating stories.
Davis said that some 50 years ago James – who had been a senior vice president with Ernst & Young – was in Venezuela with his family on business, and while there a coup took place. Following the coup, he was asked to assist with an audit of the government's books.
A lot of people didn't know about those kinds of experiences, but many were aware that James had worked on the Reagan gubernatorial campaign in the 1960s.
He had been the finance chairman for the effort in Southern California, and also chaired the Orange County Republican Party, said Davis. In those capacities, James got to know Reagan.
“I always thought here's more to David than meets the eye,” Davis said.
Emerson recalled James as a great fundraiser. They hadn't known each other until one day about 25 years ago when James called Emerson – who had built the county's first radio station, owned a resort and, along with the Hoberg family, built the golf course known today as Rob Roy – to ask for a contribution for a cause.
They would get to know each well over the ensuing decades, serving on different boards and committees together.
During that time, James talked little about personal accomplishments, Emerson said.
And while James appeared stern to many people, “He had a great sense of humor,” said Emerson.
James' facial expressions might barely change, but Emerson said there was a notable twinkle in his eye that would let you know he was laughing.
A prompt and proper man, James also had his schedule. For one, his friends knew not to call between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. because that was when he watched “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune,” Emerson explained.
Davis said he and James and other friends regularly met several times a week in Lakeport for coffee, but his health's rapid deterioration took away those pleasures.
“That was the toughest thing I think for him to give up, was coming up here for coffee with his friends,” said Davis, noting that about a month ago James' health decline sped up.
“He wanted to do things but his heart just wouldn't let him do it,” Davis said.
Davis said James was one of the finest gentlemen he had ever met, a man who was always correct, always polite, saw the good in people and circumstances, and treated everyone with respect.
Added Emerson, “He was just a wonderful man. Lake County's going to miss him and I'm going to miss him a lot.”
James' survivors include his wife of many years, Loraine.
Services have not yet been announced; Lake County News will publish the information as soon as it becomes available.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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