James "Jim" Arthur Persinger

James "Jim" Arthur Persinger was a longtime resident of Vinton, Virginia, who spent his working life running his own contracting business after a period of military service. He died on November 3, 2026, at the age of 84, in the Roanoke Valley community where he had made his home for decades. He was not a public figure in the national sense, and no cause of death has been made public, but he was widely known and loved within his own family and local circle, the kind of man whose life mattered most to the people closest to him rather than to headlines.

Jim was born on April 13, 1942, in Beelick Knob, West Virginia, to Arthur and Violet Persinger. He grew up in a large family and, as an adult, moved to the Roanoke area of Virginia, where he would spend the rest of his life. After his time in the armed services, the specifics of which have not been detailed in public reporting, he built his own contracting business, a trade that would define his working years and, by all accounts, reflect a practical, hands on approach to life that was common among tradesmen of his generation.

His wife, Sally A. Persinger, preceded him in death, as did his brother, Billy Ray, and his sisters, Bettie, Katherine, Ellen, and Linda. He is survived by his daughters, Denise Altice, who is married to Don, and Connie Smith, as well as by seven grandchildren, Grace, Natalie, Adam, Cassie, Charlette, Hope, and Lexie, and by his sister, Geneva. The family and funeral notices describe a man surrounded by children and grandchildren who carried his name and his memory forward.

Jim died on November 3, 2026. His death was first reported through a funeral home notice issued by Oakey's Vinton Chapel in Vinton, Virginia, and through an obituary carried by the Roanoke Times, the region's primary newspaper. No cause of death has been disclosed publicly, and this page will be updated if that information becomes available. A celebration of his life is planned for January 9, 2027, at the Charles R. Hill Center in Vinton, where family and friends are expected to gather to remember him.

Because Jim Persinger lived a private, local life rather than a public one, the historical record about him is limited largely to the details shared in his obituary and funeral notices. What is clear from those sources is that he was a working man who built something of his own, a husband who outlived his wife by only his final years, a father, a grandfather, and a brother whose extended family remained close around him until the end. This page reflects what has been publicly reported and will be expanded if further verified details emerge.