James A. DeBois passed away peacefully on December 18, 2022, in Palm City, Florida.

He was born on December 23, 1929, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and attended school in Duncan, Oklahoma.  He received his bachelor's degree at Oklahoma State University in 1951 after which he joined the U.S. Air Force. That same year he married his college sweetheart Mary Catherine Watkins (Katie). He served in Korea during the war as a commissioned officer returning as a First Lieutenant. He enrolled in law school at the University of Oklahoma and graduated at the top of his class in 1955. Upon graduating law school Jim went to work in private practice with his father James Duke DeBois at the DeBois and DeBois law firm in Duncan, Oklahoma.  In 1959 he was asked to join the Bell System and started his career as an attorney for Southwestern Bell, dividing his time between Oklahoma City and St. Louis.  In 1970 he was promoted to Vice President General Counsel at Pacific Telephone and built their law department. In 1976 he was transferred to AT&T as Associate General Counsel. When AT&T Information Systems was formed in 1983, he was made General Counsel and worked on settling the many issues between the 7 Bell Systems during and after the break-up of AT&T.  His coworkers all said he was the heart and soul of AT&T Law, and that he set the standard for integrity and ethics.  At the time of his retirement in 1993, he was awarded the first James A. DeBois Ethics award at AT&T.

Jimmy is survived by his loving wife of 71 years, Katie; his children James A. DeBois II (Gale), Cecile DeBois O'Hara (Thomas), Annette Marie DeBois; his grandchildren Marcie DeBois Binford (Matthew) Thomas M. O'Hara Jr., James Duke O'Hara, Catherine Marie O'Hara; his great-grandchildren Audrey and Jacqueline Binford. He is also survived by his brother E. L. DeBois (Marlene).  He was predeceased by his grandson Sean Phillip DeBois.

Jimmy was a huge Oklahoma State University Football fan and never missed a game. His other passions were playing gin rummy and golf. He loved spending time with his family and his motto was "La Famille est Tout".  Family is everything.