James Moreland

James E. Moreland, Sr. 89, of Lebanon, died on August 5, 2023, at UC West Chester Hospital.  He was born on August 3, 1934, in Stanton, KY to James and Irene (Whisman) Moreland.

James had an unrivaled zest for life and squeezed all that he could from every day that he was given. His earliest memories, age three, were of building roads in the dirt, under the family home and pushing little trucks around those dirt roads. Building roads to new places became the theme to his life.

 He grew up on the family farm and loved animals, especially horses. He was a talented “horse whisperer” and He rodeoed and owned, trained and did harness racing. He designed and built machines At SRL for testing the effects of G-forces on the body for the early Apollo program and designed industrial water softening systems. He did construction and excavating and welding and fabrication. He drove trucks and owned a trucking company. He has a movie credit for driving a truck in a Hollywood movie called “Milk Money”. His entrepreneurial spirit lead him to open his own auto repair facility in 1977 and he worked and “Held court” there, as chief mechanic, philosopher, amateur psychologist, and mentor to many until June of this year, when illness interrupted his momentum.

He strived to be a good husband, father and grandpa and his family were his treasure.
He will be greatly missed.

James is survived by his son, James E. (Cari) Moreland, Jr.; son, Joel T. Moreland; son, Joshua B. (Christy) Moreland; grandchildren, Elijah T. (Michelle) Moreland, Matthew C. Moreland, Kaleigha L. Moreland, Jillian K. Moreland, Drew R. Moreland, great grandchildren - Ezra T. Moreland, and one on the way.

He was preceded in death by parents; wife, Lois Ann (White) Moreland; sister, Bette Moreland; brother, William F. Moreland; brother, Dan E. Moreland.

Funeral Service will be Friday, August 11th at 1:00pm at Wilson-Schramm-Spaulding Funeral Home, 3805 Roosevelt Blvd (at Bonita Drive), Middletown, OH, 45044.  Visitation will be prior to the service from 11:00am - 1:00pm.

Interment will be at North Monroe Cemetery.