James Buford Loggans, 85, passed away peacefully on November 28, 2023, in Mooresville, N.C., where he resided with his niece, Tammye Keola and her partner, Tony Selden.

James was born on December 9, 1937, in Bristol, Va., to the late Sally Jane Collins (Patrick) and James Bishop Loggans. He graduated from Bristol High School, in Bristol, Tenn., in 1958.

James then went on to serve in the U.S. Air Force as an Air Policeman and Weapons Systems Security Staff Sergeant from 1961-1973. After his discharge from the Air Force, he worked as a Theater Manager prior to starting his civil service career with the Smithsonian Institute’s Office of Protective Services in Washington, D.C. He started there as a Security Guard in 1976 and worked his way up to his position as a Procurement Officer before retiring in 2008. It is here that he developed several lifelong friendships with his co-workers which he cherished.

He will be remembered as a loving, caring, and giving man who loved his family, friends, history, movies, and music.

In addition to his mother and father, he was proceeded in death by his loving sister, Patricia Anne Keola-Colella (Loggans).

He is survived by stepsister, Darla Sue Miller (Collins) of Nelson County, Va.; his niece, Tammye Jayne Keola of Mooresville, N.C.; her son, Justin Patrick Mahon and his fiancée Giselle Lynn and their son, Tristan Patrick Mahon of Port Saint Lucie, Fla., whom he loved dearly and considered and treated as his children.

Family and friends will be notified of the date and time of the military honors service that will be held in the future in Maryland. Soon after, he will be placed in his final resting place in the Garden of Devotion at Glenwood Cemetery in Bristol, Tenn.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 in his honor.

Cavin-Cook Funeral Home and Crematory, Mooresville, is serving the Loggans family. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.cavin-cook.com.