James V. Wentzell II

James Vester Wentzell, Jr., 61, died Wednesday, January 4 after a sudden illness. Born in Biloxi to J.V. Wentzell, Sr., and Theda Wentzell (née Cruthirds), he was a 1968 graduate of Biloxi High School, attended Perkinston Junior College, and received a B.A. in broadcasting and journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1972. Vester had worked in television at WLOX Channel 13, in South Carolina and New Mexico, and he worked locally in independent video production. Up until his passing, he was a longtime advertising producer for Cable One. Anyone on the Mississippi Gulf Coast who has watched TV will have heard his voice in commercials. He loved his job and the people he worked with. Vester enjoyed going out to the barrier islands, snorkeling, canoeing, and playing golf and tennis. He was an avid collector of music, and a regular attendee of the New Orleans Jazz Festival. For the past several years, he portrayed Saint Patrick in the Gulfport Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. Known for his individual humor, he was a gregarious, animated person, who had many friends and made new ones easily. He will be deeply missed by his three children, Annie, Nick, and Ian, his aunt & godmother Hazel Jones, sisters Marci Saucier and Stacey Eaton, brother Pete Wentzell, and his nieces, nephews, and many cousins. A memorial service will be held at Ring in the Oak in Biloxi, at the corner of Bellman and 90, at one o’clock on Saturday the 14th. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his memory to the Nature Conservancy.