Gertrude Hughes James, 97, of Suffolk, widow of John Ausbon James, died Wednesday, May 5, 2004. She was a daughter of the late Samuel Morton Hughes and Maye Wilson Hughes of Prince Edward County.

Mrs. James was a graduate of Longwood College and taught in Holland, Windsor, Clifton Forge, and Suffolk. She loved children and enjoyed the many years she taught second grade at John Randolph Elementary School as well as in the Primary Sunday School Department of First Baptist Church of Suffolk.

She was a member of the Constantia Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the American Association of University Women, and the Longwood Alumni Chapter.

She is survived by her son, Rodney H. James, his wife, Linda, of Richmond, and their two children, Mike and Jill; her daughter, Barbara J Brumbeloe, her husband, Ray, of Marietta, Ga.; her son, Kent James, his wife, Meg, of Williamsburg, and their children, Ryan, Ashley and Mary Katherine; her daughter, Martha J. Thomas, her husband, Bill, of Norfolk; stepchildren, Janet Timberlake of Harrisonburg, her husband, John and their son, Jack; and John James of Grass Valley, Calif.; and her sister, Doris Gates of Farmville.

The funeral will be conducted at noon Friday by the Rev. Dr. David H. Chauncey in the R.W. Baker & Co. Funeral Home & Crematory. The family will receive friends in the funeral home following the service. Interment will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Pisgah Baptist Church Cemetery in Rice.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the First Baptist Christian School or the Lottie Moon Mission Offering, 237 N. Main St., Suffolk, VA, 23434.

The family extends its deep and heartfelt appreciation to Elizabeth Parham Marian Wells, Goldie Cowling and Angela Wells for their kindness and loving care of our mother.