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James Franklin Fuqua, Jr. was born in Tullahoma, Tennessee on February 12th, 1954. An only child, little Jimmy was the sole pride and joy of his loving parents, Mary Ruth and James Fuqua.

Jimmy spent an idyllic childhood growing up in the quiet of small town Tennessee, spending his school days excelling in classes and sports. In the afternoons he played baseball on the neighborhood sandlot and returned home each evening when Mary Ruth rang the dinner bell…always to a home-cooked meal which was often a full spread of fried chicken, Southern vegetables, fresh watermelon pickles, and a chess pie or her famous peach cobblerif he was lucky.

After high school, Jim moved on to the “big city” of Nashville and enrolled at Vanderbilt University. There he studied chemistry and biology, pledged Sigma Chi, and spent many a night with his fraternity brothers over an infamous Rotier’s cheeseburger (RIP Old Nashville). Jim joined the Vanderbilt track team and also made the men’s basketball team roster, though legend has it that his biggest claim to fame during his collegiate basketball career occurred during warm-ups on the night of his first game in Memorial Gymnasium when he went up for a layup drill. His finger got hooked in the net, and he went tumbling to the ground, landing back-first on the court floor. After the back-flop heard round the world, Jim focused more heavily on his track career than his time on the basketball court.

Post-graduation Jim remained in Nashville and took both a job as a researcher in a microbiology lab and also a coaching position for the Vanderbilt Women’s Track Team; advocating for Women’s sports is a passion that would continue uninterrupted throughout his life. He soon met his future wife Sena on a fateful day in the elevator of the building that housed both the microbiology lab where he worked (basement) and the hospitality company Sena worked for (top floor). He spent several weeks trying to catch her elevator any chance he could.

Finally, Sena, tired of waiting on him to get the courage to ask her out, decided to just go ahead and ask HIM out. (She needed a ride and a date to a wedding in Kentucky.) He accepted the invitation to chauffeur her to the adjacent state, and the rest is history.

They married shortly thereafter in Nashville; Jim went to work for Merck & Co., and they then spent several years moving around between Pennsylvania and Houston, Texas, where their two daughters, Meredith and Bradley, were born. Then it was back to Pennsylvania before finally settling in Birmingham, Alabama.

Jim spent 32 years devoted to his legendary work with Merck, including several years commuting back and forth from Birmingham to Philadelphia, seamlessly maintaining his immense responsibilities at Merck and never missing a daughter’s track meet or special event. Jim got to know every TSA agent at BHM airport by name and developed a true relationship with the gate agent at Delta A4. If you knew Jim, you knew he never met a stranger, and he made friends with anyone and everyone in his path.

Jim finally retired from Merck, only to dive immediately back into various other positions, including becoming a president at PNP Therapeutics and being instrumental in building the oncology division at AbbVie. The man was good at a lot of things, but sitting still was not one of them. In his free time he was a devoted member of the Rotary Club and served on several boards including Girls on the Run.

Jim was diagnosed with a rare neuroendocrine cancer in 2015 but was able to keep it at bay for many years. Most people in his orbit did not even realize he had cancer at all. A few years ago, as the cancer began to progress, he finally RETIRED, claiming it was time for him to settle down and focus on being a Stay At Home Grandfather, a role he took just as seriously as any of his previous jobs. He showed up to every youth football, basketball, soccer, and cheerleading game that he possibly could. Jim was a fixture on every sideline, stadium, and bleacher, as his grandchildren were his true pride and joy, till the very end.

Jim passed away from complications of cancer on September 15,2026. He was surrounded by his beloved wife of 45 years Sena, his treasured daughters Meredith Sherrill and Bradley Petersen, his loving sons-in-law John Sherrill and Stephen Petersen, and his strong personal Faith that he was headed to a place much, much greater than this home we call Earth. Jim is also survived by his grandchildren Madden, Johnny, and Vivian Sherrill, and Huck and Isla Petersen.

For all that Jim accomplished in his 72 wonderful years, his lasting legacy is the selfless way in which he treated everyone that crossed his path — family, friends, and strangers alike. His kindness and curiosity had a magical way of making you feel seen, heard, and loved, no matter what or who you were.

Rest in peace, Jim. A memorial service is scheduled for September 25, 2026 at 11:00 A.M. at Canterbury United Methodist Church. The family will receive friends from 10:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. at the church.

* In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Girls on the Run, Friends of the Environment, and The American Cancer Society.

The Memorial Service Livestream can be found at: https://canterburyumc.org/worship/funerals/memorial- https://canterburyumc.org/worship/funerals/me- service-livestream/