Jim Bess
, Alabama
October 5, 2026
James William Bess, III, son of Helen Dawanda and James William Bess, Jr., was born March 8, 1942, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and died October 6, 2026, in Oneonta, Alabama.He earned his B.A. in Marketing from Southeast Missouri State University in 1964. After graduating, he joined Goldsmith’s, a Memphis, TN-based Federated Department Store, where he became the youngest buyer in company history.Jim served in the Army National Guard as a combat medic from 1967 to 1972.In 1970, he joined Binswanger Mirror Manufacturing in Memphis as their salesman in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. He returned to Memphis in 1975, when he was promoted to National Sales Manager, and then Director of Sales and Marketing.He and his wife, Jan, moved to Rockwall, TX, in 1981 and formed Jim Bess and Associates, Inc., a sales and marketing company representing the glass and mirror industry in Texas and Oklahoma. They received many awards…