James Furches, Jr.

James Johnson Furches Jr, “Jamie,” our cherished dad-brother-husband-ex-husband-grandpa-uncle-friend unexpectedly passed away December 18, 2021 due to heart complications.  He was born February 8, 1962 in Forsyth County, NC to navy pilot and real estate investor Jim Furches and gospel singer and homemaker Colleen Maynard Furches; older brother to sisters Mindy and Kathy.   He always loved playing with toy cars and ultimately turned that interest into a hobby, then a career as an auto-body repairman, with one custom-built Camero project ending up on the cover of Hot Rod magazine!   As a young man he briefly co-owned his own auto-body shop, and always had a home garage for big and small jobs.  He worked for 18 years at Amp Inc/Tyco as a designer, and spent these recent years working for Flow Luxury Auto-body with a boss he admired and appreciated.  It wasn’t easy to be a young father but he worked hard to provide for his family and told his daughters many times how happy and proud he was to be a dad.  He had the biggest heart, was full of empathy, love and compassion, had a beautiful smile and was a total goofball.  He played guitar, had a wonderful singing voice, and was a big lover of music, going out to see his favorite musicians play as often as he could.  He loved to play golf and especially looked forward to his annual trip to Pinehurst with his old friend Darrel Lemler.  He was happiest out on the water, and could be found many summer weekends out on his boat at Lake Hickory.

Jamie is survived by two daughters from his first wife, Pamela Massengill Howerton: Jennifer Coppola (Roman Coppola) and Amanda Herring (Marcus Herring); a daughter from his second wife, Elizabeth Herrin Furches: Cheyenne Roybal (Daniel Sanchez); his grand-children Pascale, Marcello and Alessandro Coppola and Keats Herring; his sister Mindy Santiago (Andy Santiago); his mother Colleen Furches and many nieces and nephews. Jamie had so many miraculous stories of heroism, which he was always very humble about: saving a woman from seizure on the side of the road, a man from choking at the office, a child from drowning at the lake.  The list seems endless and includes many side-of-the-road rescues for his family.  With every passing day he became a more beautiful version of himself, and every day spent with him will be treasured forever.  He was a good man.  He will be profoundly missed.  There will be a memorial service held in his honor at a future date with information posted to his facebook page.