James Thomas “Chopper” Lyles, was born to Don and Ella Mae Lyles December 30, 1964, in Demopolis, Alabama. He was the youngest child of a military family that moved often, with every new home bringing wonderful memories. The Lyles family moved from Alabama, Okinawa, Plainview, TX., (while his dad served in Vietnam), Ft. Lewis, WA., Austin, TX., and finally Wichita Falls, TX. when James was a 4th grader. It was there he found lifelong friends and had experiences that left an indelible mark on his life.
At the age of 14, he had his mom drive him to Weeks Park Golf Course to see if they were hiring. He ran out of the golf shop, waved goodbye to his ride, and began work as a golf cart attendant that day. He quickly moved up to managing the pro shop before turning 16. He filled his golf bag with clubs angry golfers wrapped around trees or threw in the woods or water. At a young age, he had the uncanny vision to bring anything back to life. James used that time to hone in on his golf skills, which he was naturally gifted. In 1979, his family home was destroyed in a tornado. He found employment performing different construction type jobs and was proud of the fact he helped with the clean up and the rebuilding of their house.
Upon graduation from Rider High School in 1983, he spent a year at Midwestern State University before transferring to his beloved Texas A&M, class of ‘87. James embraced the Aggie culture, cutting for bonfire, never missing a yell practice, and adhering to the rich traditions. There is folklore that exists to this day, mostly surrounding his years living at Davis Gary Dorm. If you’re reading this and lived at DG in the mid 80s, you know the stories! He completed his degree in Environmental Design, where he used his skills as a talented sketch artist. Some of his work was picked to hang in the architect building for semesters at a time.
During summers he would return home and work for the Wichita Falls ISD. It was during those months, his boss took him under his wing (James was always a charmer) and instead of getting the menial jobs, he learned the ins and outs of everything from installation, electrical, plumbing, welding, driving tractors, etc. There was pretty much nothing he couldn’t fix and that was before YouTube! The summer before graduation, he did a study abroad in Italy. For an art class he had to keep a sketchbook, but in true James fashion, he lost said sketchbook. To this day, we are convinced it’s in a museum with artist “unknown.” Upon completion, he traveled extensively throughout Europe.
After graduating from A&M, he worked for many firms in Dallas, using his design and sales skills. He traveled all over the world overseeing Blockbuster Video and Discovery Zone store installations with Creative Retail Interiors. A notable memory is when he opened the first Blockbuster Videos in Venezuela and Australia. He then relocated to Ft. Smith, AR. working for Air Systems in the same industry.
It was there, through mutual friends, he met and fell in love with Donna Hayden. They married in 1996 and began their life together in Fayetteville, AR. where James made a career shift to working at Medline, using once again his charm and sales prowess selling medical supplies. This led to a job with Abbott Labs in pharmaceuticals. An opportunity opened with Englander Container and Display, and he moved back seamlessly into the industry using his design and sales skills with point of purchase displays. After the company sold, he finished his time working for Lewisburg Printing Company.
During these years, he and Donna had Emily and Caroline, his two greatest accomplishments. He loved his girls fiercely, following their sports, advocating for them, instilling nuggets of wisdom, and teaching them the value of hard work. He said, “it was Donna’s job to teach them to be a lady, and mine to make them tough!”
Sadly, in 2019, he lost Donna to breast cancer, when Emily was 19 and Caroline 15. When given the opportunity to move back to Texas with a job relocation, he made the decision to move to Argyle. About this same time, James was diagnosed with throat cancer, which he beat in 2021. However, 3 years later, it came back. He did everything in his power to fight for his girls, but the cancer was too aggressive.
Never has the importance of one’s faith and incredible family support meant more. James put God first, always looked to the positive, and considered his life extremely blessed. He will always be remembered as a renaissance man – there was nothing he couldn’t build or fix, lover of the outdoors, especially hunting, fly fishing, time at the Ashley Ranch, and playing golf – all of which he excelled! In 2024, he fulfilled a dream playing golf in Scotland where he parred the last hole to shoot an 80 on the Old Course. He loved family, was loyal, very intentional, and considered everyone’s best friend. To his daughters, never has there been a dad that was so present and proud of them.
James is preceded in death by his grandparents, parents, father-in-law and mother-in-law, and his beautiful wife, Donna. He is survived by his daughters, Emily and Caroline, sister Carol Robison (Jim), brother John (Galyn), sister Karen McCord (Mike), brother-in-law Johnny Hayden (Salinda), his special nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, and too many friends to count.
James believed in honoring the men and women in uniform. Because of this, we ask that in lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Tunnels to Towers in his memory.
A memorial service will be held at Valley Ranch Baptist Church, 1501 E Beltline, Coppell, TX 75019, March 30, at 2:00 p.m. If you wish to send flowers, you may send to this same address, on 3/30 with delivery from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
