James Duren

February 8, 1926 - October 20, 2014

James T. Duren, age 88, of Lithia Springs, passed away Monday, October 20, 2014 at Emeritus at Sweetwater. He was born on February 8, 1926, in Chilton County, Alabama to the late Edgar Duren and Fannie Mae Scott Duren. He was the seventh of ten children born to Edgar and Fannie. He was married to his beloved wife, Mary Ann Supplee Duren, for 46 years at the time of her death on October 20, 1997. Mr. Duren worked miscellaneous jobs including driving the equipment truck for a short time for Roy Acuff when he only 14. He attempted to join the Navy in WWII when he was 16, and he was at the recruitment center in Birmingham when his mother found out and asked the local sheriff to get him sent back home. When he was 17 he joined the Navy and served on several ships and was honorably discharged in March of 1946. He then found work in Kansas City, Kansas and that is where he met his future wife, Mary Ann Supplee. They were proud parents of their daughter, Barbara Ann Duren, and their son, Royce Tyler Duren. They moved to Georgia in 1956. He retired from Southeastern Elevator Company as a welder; then worked for Cobb Hospital as a maintenance man and retired from there in 1995 to care for his ill wife. Mr. Duren is survived by his daughter Barbara Duren Witcher and husband Bill of Lithia Springs; his son Royce Duren of Powder Springs; his grandson Corey Witcher of Lithia Springs; grandson Jason Witcher and his wife Amy of Villa Rica; a sister, Faye Duren Ramey of Buchanan; and many nieces and nephews. A graveside service was held on Thursday, October 23, at 2:00 pm at Sunrise Memorial Gardens in Douglasville with Rev. Bryan Alexander officiating and Amy Alexander Witcher singing. Donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association. Arrangements by White Columns Chapel in Mableton, GA.