James B. Ringer

James spent a significant part of his youth on the Reed 77 Ranch, a cattle ranch in Wyoming, with his aunt and uncle Betty-Jean & Bud Reed. The ranch is now known as a historically rich landmark of record-breaking roundups, gunfights and over 140 years of raising cattle. Not only a genuine cowboy, James was also a highly gifted athlete. He received a football scholarship to attend New Mexico State University in Las Cruces in 1975. He was very proud of his team and was rarely seen without the Missouri Valley Conference Championship ring that they won in 1976. He played running back and some special teams positions, always in a number 12 jersey.

After college, James moved to Los Angeles where he met the love of his life, Sheree. After being told by a psychic she would meet ‘Ringo’ overseas (she was living in New Zealand and working as a flight attendant at the time) … in June of 1990, the two were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend while Sheree was on a layover in LA. Even though James wasn’t a member of the Beatles, Sheree was starstruck— it was love at first sight! (that psychic was legit— James had a weight belt with a nickname engraved on it… Ringo!). They married on February 16th, 1991 in Sheree’s parents’ garden in Auckland, New Zealand. After a beautiful honeymoon, Sheree immigrated to the United States and lived with James in Los Angeles where their child, Sam, was born.

In 1993, the Ringer family then moved to Roanoke, Virginia where James ran a very successful business under Farmers Insurance until 2022. After briefly living in Baltimore, MD and Merrifield, VA, Sheree and James then moved to Santa Fe, NM to be closer to Sam. James quickly became a local celebrity, known as ‘the shorts guy’ (if you know, you know) while working at La Montañita Co-Op.

Even though he lived larger than life and never met a stranger, James was also drawn to solitude throughout his life as solo camping, hunting and connecting with Nature was incredibly important to him. He was endlessly curious about the world and always knew how to fix something. He loved reading about cowboys, watching movies (particularly Westerns and horror), and learning about history and outer-space. Sam’s favorite childhood memories of him are driving to the hardware store with The Doors or Pink Floyd blasting at full volume and going to the Blockbuster to pick out any horror movie they wanted.

James is survived by his wife Sheree, his child Sam, and his two sisters— Holli and Debbie.