James Howard Attkisson
November 9, 1946 ~ January 25, 2026
Resided in: St. Augustine, Florida
James Howard Attkisson was a great man and a strong man who defied his own expectations. He loved his family, and at the top of the list were his two daughters.
He was hyper intelligent, driven in all the right ways, and funny.
He loved playing baseball, watching football, cooking, drnking good wine, golfing, and was a voracious reader who often had three books going at once, usually with a Ludlum novel.
He honorably and bravely served his country in combat in Vietnam and never stopped thinking about the buddies he served with.
Jim was an amazing leader and took special pride in starting and leading the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team and winning national competitions, beating out the FBI, Park Police, LAPD, Secret Service, and major law enforcement departments. He loved his guys. He was also a great detective, expert at working with Confidential Informants, tracking down criminals, and getting confessions. He had an art for it. Some of his best, life-long friends were from his police time.
He always said he knew how to pick talent.
Jim went to law school in his 40s and earned his law degree with all A’s. He passed the bar on his first try and used to joke, “John F. Kennedy Junior failed twice before he passed, but I passed the first time.”
Another great love was building our houses, particularly our large project in Leesburg, Virginia. He drove there every day for a year during construction, four year old Sarah in tow, to check on the subcontrators and make sure everything was done correctly.
He was in his 60s when he was running around attending Sarah’s color guard tournaments, violin concerts, and many other events, and he was so proud. Because she absorbed his talk about finances and the stock market, she once won a state essay contest about finances. It was an artful version of “Buy Low, Sell High.”
Jim had a great set of friends who reached out and kept in touch even as he became too sick to reciprocate. He loved his dogs Mushroom and then Chakka. Well, they were actually Sarah’s dogs but came to be “his.” In recent years, he would carry Chakka around like stuffed toy. She loved him, too.
He took good care of his wife of 42 years, Sharyl, and was her biggest cheerleader and fan. He squeezed every last second out of life, even as sick as he became, going out most days to his favorite lunch places, enjoying parties and visits, telling stories, or just riding in the car.
As one friend put it: he was the straw that stirred the glass.
He passed peacefully in gentle hospice care on the morning of January 25, 2026.
He will be missed, deeply, forever.
Crevasse’s Simple Cremation is honored to serve the Attkisson family.
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Sharyl and Sarah,
Chris and I are very sorry to learn of Jim’s passing.
Although, we only met him on that one occasion in Leesburg, he was a very gracious host and quite entertaining.
We know that he will be missed not only by you but by his many friends that knew him well.
Sincerely with heartfelt sympathies,