Jacquelyn “Jacqui” James

Ancestar

Jacquelyn “Jacqui” James
November 4, 1937 – June 10, 2024
First Unitarian Church in Pittsburgh and
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)

  • Jacquelyn James was born November 4, 1937, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee when she was nine years old.
  • Due to her exceptional intellect, she was enrolled in an accelerated secondary education program and attended Fisk University at the age of fifteen.
  • Early on, her parents’ membership with USAID in Liberia influenced her international interests. Jacqui acquired a global perspective during college, living and traveling in Liberia and Ghana.
  • When Jacqui returned to the United States, she transferred to the University of Pittsburgh and earned an undergraduate degree in Economics in 1966.
  • While raising her children, Jacqui worked at Reading Is Fundamental, and volunteered with various community organizations. As Director of Religious Education at the First Unitarian Church in Pittsburgh, she was a member of various national committees.
  • In 1986 she joined the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in Boston as the Director of Worship Resources, working on a new hymnbook. She was also involved with both the Faith in Action department and the Religious Education/Faith Development staff group.
  • Jacqui’s anti-racism work was very important to her, and her passion inspired many others to strive for a vision of an anti-racist Unitarian Universalism. In addition to anti-racism/anti-oppression education and action, her responsibilities encompassed resource and leadership development.
  • She retired from the UUA in 2002 and continued to serve Unitarian Universalism as a Meadville-Lombard Theological School (MLTS) board member. She was later awarded an honorary doctorate degree from MLTS. She enjoyed quilting with several local guilds and baking her signature assortment of Christmas cookies.
  • A memorial service was held on July 20, 2024 at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton, Massachusetts.

Adapted from the Boston Globe, Jun. 15—16, 2024.