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“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me”

AUSTIN, Texas — James Thomas Arrington, 56, of Austin, Texas, passed from this world to join his Savior on April 17, 2020.

A native of Ivor, he was an honor graduate of the Southampton High Class of 1982. An Army veteran, he spent the last 18 years of his life in Austin, of which he was a proud citizen.

From childhood, he was an avid reader, writer of prose poetry and a lover of classical music. Over the years, he amassed a diverse collection of smoking pipes that he passively enjoyed.

He was a devout Catholic, attending St. Mary’s Cathedral in Austin.

He greatly enjoyed his annual trips home to Virginia for visits with his family and joining his best friend since junior high school, Jamey Atkins, in visiting former SHS teacher Betty Miller; then, a trek to the Atkins home in Asheville, North Carolina. He would then return home to his beloved kitty, Noafa.

Surviving James are his mother, Joan Decoster, and his stepfather, Donald W. Decoster of Wakefield, Virginia; his stepmother, Linda Arrington of Virginia Beach, Virginia; his sister, Juliana Bowden (Phil) of Zuni, Virginia; his sister, Cathie J. Vick (Kevin) of Virginia Beach; nephews, Phillip Lee Bowden and Eli France; and niece, Marley France.

A celebration of life service will be announced in the future.