James Monroe Mounts, 82, born in East St. Louis, Illinois, on November 18, 1920, the son of the late Clarence Raymond and Effie Estelle (Gregory) Mounts, died in Vero Beach, Florida on Wednesday, December 9, 2002.

A first lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, Mr. Mounts' B-17 Flying Fortress was shot down over Germany and he was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. He received an Air Medal, 2 Oak Leaf Clusters and the Purple Heart.

After the war, Mr. Mounts' career was extraordinarily eclectic. He was a first pioneer sheep farmer in Southern Illinois; and later worked in sales for the Airtex Corporation, traveling throughout the western part of the United States.

He settled in Los Angeles, where he owned several restaurants before diversifying into real estate and home building. He moved to a farm in Duck Hill, Mississippi, where he raised Black Angus bulls, and then retired to Vero Beach, Florida.

Mr. Mounts is survived by two nephews, David Windsor Brubaker of New York City and James Richard Brubaker of Benicia, California; as well as one nieces, Jon Kathryn Brubaker Rowland of Wakefield, Rhode Island. He was preceded in death by his brother Eddie Gilbert Mounts and his sister Doris June (Mounts) Brubaker.

Private services and interment will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at a future date.

Vero Beach Press Journal (FL) -  Friday, January 3, 2003