Sister Emma Jean James went home to be with the Lord on Saturday, May 31, 2026, at home in her sleep. The life of the quiet warrior began on July 21, 1952, in Washington, DC. She was the oldest of the late Johnnie and Alice Louise Patten. Emma was named after her maternal grandmother but was called Jean by her family.

Jean was baptized at New Canaan Baptist Church in Washington, DC at the age of 10. She and her sisters later followed their Aunt Janie to St. Judah Spiritual Baptist Church in Washington, DC where she was an active choir member for many years. Jean attended District of Columbia Public Schools until her family relocated to Seat Pleasant, Maryland, where she graduated from Central Senior High School in Prince George's County, Maryland. In 1972, Emma married Reverend Hezekiah James where a daughter, Katrice Danee was born from their brief union.

Jean worked as support staff in accounting offices in various companies throughout the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area, until her retirement from the American Society of Landscape Architects in Washington, DC.

When her parents relocated to Chester, Jean spent most of her weekends driving from Maryland to Chester to assist with their care. On August 28, 2016, Jean joined Union Branch Baptist Church and slowly started spending more time in Virginia, until the passing of her mother in May 2017. Her daughter's declining health took her back to Maryland until her passing in 2022. She later returned to Virginia to assist her sister's in taking care of their dad and made the decision to remain after his death.

Emma Jean was preceded in death by her parents, Johnnie and Alice Patten and her daughter Katrice Patten-Speight. She leaves to cherish her memory her granddaughter, Danee Patten-Speight of Chester, Virginia; grandson, Jermaine Speight, Jr. of Silver Spring, Maryland; her sisters, VaNessa Patten Adams and Velma Patten McCarter of Chester, Virginia; her nephews, John McCarter (Renatta) of Spotsylvania, Virginia, and Garrick Adams (Shayana) of South Chesterfield, Virginia; her great-nieces, Jada McCarter of Spotsylvania, Virginia, and Alora Adams of South Chesterfield, Virginia; her great nephews, Josiah Adams, Josiah Mosley and Zyaire  Adams of South Chesterfield, Virginia, Elijah Castillo of Chester, Virginia; her aunts, Janie Randolph of Washington, DC, Emmie Dixon (Lee) of Atlanta, Georgia, Mildred Glover of Trenton, South Carolina, Cleo Dandy and Margaret Epps of Aiken, South Carolina; her uncles, Gordon Patten (Devenia) of Washington, DC and Claude Patten of Trenton, South Carolina; and a host of cousins and four special friends, Zandra, Betty, Charles and Ralph.

Services will be held 12 Noon, Friday, June 12, 2026, at Union Branch Baptist Church, 11519 River Road, Chesterfield, VA, the Rev. Dr. Gregory M. Howard, Pastor/eulogist. The interment to follow at the church cemetery.

J. M. Wilkerson Funeral Establishment, Inc., 102 South Avenue, Petersburg, VA, (804) 732-8911, www.jmwilkersonsince1874.com. Watch the funeral services live online on our J. M. Wilkerson Funeral Establishment, Inc. Facebook page.