James Vernon Shoaf

James Vernon Shoaf, 61, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, passed away Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021 at Kingman Regional Medical Center in Arizona. Mr. Shoaf resided in Kingman prior to his lengthy hospital stay, with a series of strokes and heart failure, that eventually lead to his death. 

James was born Nov. 10, 1959. He attended Clinton Elementary and graduated from McKinley High School in St. Louis, before attending Ambassador College in Pasadena, California. He graduated from Ambassador with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. He also attended the University of Missouri at Columbia for a brief time.

James worked as a computer programmer in Pasadena before moving to Bullhead City, Arizona, and then to Kingman shortly after the turn of the century. He was briefly employed at Harrah’s Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, before moving to Laughlin’s Flamingo Hilton, which became the present-day Aquarius. James last worked at the Aquarius as an assistant casino host. 

His pastimes included extensive travel in the United States and abroad, his avid interest in the St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Club, dining out, caring for rescue kittens, watching vintage Westerns and war films on television, bowling and Three Stooges fandom. He was a lifelong bachelor.

James is survived by his brother, Norman Shoaf Jr., of Rosamond, CA; a niece, Lillian Lawrence, of Richmond, VA; a nephew, Norman Shoaf III, presently serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Japan; and Norman Shoaf III’s wife, Kendra Shoaf.

Friends may share online condolences with James’ family at www.eatonfuneralhome.com.

Arrangements were under the care of Sutton Memorial Funeral Home of Kingman, AZ, and Eaton Funeral Home and Cremation Center of Sullivan.