James Q. Looney
James Quinton Looney, 73, of Fountain Inn, SC, loving husband of Shelby Vinson Looney, walked into the arms of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. Born on August 1, 1952, in Toccoa, GA, he was the son of the late Joe Looney and Frances Meeks Looney Beeler.
James retired from MP Husky and was a member of Fellowship Greenville. He was an expert craftsman; he loved music, playing guitar, cruising on his motorcycle, and most importantly loved the Lord and his family.
In addition to his wife, James is survived by three children, Jonathan Looney (Michelle) of Daniel Island, SC, Anissa Blackwell (Wade) of Lyman, SC, and Jeffery Looney (Leanne) of Colorado Springs, CO; and held forever in the hearts of his grandchildren, Averi, Addison, London, Lincoln, Benjamin, Josiah, Charlotte, and Jackson; and his sister, Shirley Infinger (Derrill) of Charleston, SC.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother, Jack Looney of Toccoa, GA; and his grandson, Bowen James Blackwell of Lyman, SC.
A Funeral Service will be held on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. at Fellowship Greenville; 3161 SC-14, Greenville, SC 29615. Interment will follow in Graceland East Memorial Park.
The family will receive friends prior to the service beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Flowers may be sent to Cannon-Byrd Funeral Home or memorials can be made to the Emerson Rose Heart Foundation in honor of his grandson, Bowen.
The Butler family sends our sincere condolences to the family. Mr. Looney was like a father to my Eric and I. We cherish this family very much and know that we love you all very much! We pray God’s peace, strength and understanding in this most difficult time for the family!
There are no words for the love we have for you all. Our hearts are broken for you. James loved his family dearly and was so proud of his kids and grandkids. So please know of our love and prayers for you. We want to help however we can now and in the days to come.
I know he will be missed. (I’m in Florida with grands or I would have come). Trust in the Lord…and lean not on your own understanding.
Gone from our sight, but not from our heart. Love forever and always. S.
In case you want to know who my dad was and was like….
The more I’ve been thinking about my dad, and after a conversation my mom and I had last night, I keep coming back to the truth that, from the very beginning, God never intended for us to carry life alone
In Genesis, after God created Adam, He looked at him and said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” That was before sin, before suffering, before all the hard things life brings. Even in a perfect world, God knew we needed each other.
And when I think about my dad, I think about a man who spent most of his life like a lot of dad’s, trying to carry things on his shoulders while also carrying everyone else.
People always tell me I’m just like my dad. Honestly, I take that as one of the biggest compliments I could ever get.
I’m proud to be his son.
I’m proud my kids got to call him Pops.
And I’m proud that so much of who I am came from watching him.
He wasn’t loud. He wasn’t the center of attention. He was quiet… just like me.
But if you paid attention, you saw the kind of man he was.
He loved God.
He loved his wife.
He loved his kids and grandkids.
He cared about people.
He listened more than he talked.
He had those little one-liners that would sneak up on you and make you laugh.
He was patient.
Giving.
Steady.
And when he needed to be stern, you knew it.
A lot of what I know about being a father came from him. Not because he sat me down and lectured me all the time, but because he lived it out in front of me.
He showed me what consistency looks like.
What sacrifice looks like.
What showing up for your family looks like.
And the older I get, the more I realize he was carrying more than most people knew.
My dad was the kind of person who never wanted to burden anybody. And if I’m being honest, that’s something I inherited from him too.
There’s this saying that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” The loud problems get attention. The people who make noise get noticed.
But some people don’t squeak.
Some people stay quiet and keep rolling.
Keep carrying weight.
Keep showing up.
They convince everyone, maybe even themselves, that they’re fine because they don’t want to inconvenience anybody else.
And sometimes those are the people hurting the most.
I think there are a lot of people like that in this world. Good people. Faithful people. Caring people. People who love deeply and still silently carry battles nobody can see.
And I think one of the biggest lies satan gets people to believe is that asking for help somehow means weakness.
But that’s not what Scripture teaches us.
God created us to need Him and to need each other. The Bible says to “carry one another’s burdens.” Not because we’re weak, but because that’s how God designed us to live.
My dad taught me a lot in his life. But even now, he’s still teaching me something.
He’s teaching me that strength is not pretending you can carry everything alone.
Strength is trusting God enough, and trusting the people who love you enough, to let them walk beside you.
I wish more people understood that. That society encouraged that.
Because some of the strongest people in the world are the quiet ones. The ones who keep going. The ones who love everybody else while fighting battles nobody sees.
That was my dad.
He fought longer and harder than many people will ever know.
And through it all, he kept loving his family the best way he knew how.
I’ll always be thankful for him.
Thankful for the example he set.
Thankful for the father he was to me.
And thankful my children got to know him as Pops.
He was a good man.
A godly man.
A loving husband, father, and grandfather.
And while we’ll miss him deeply, I believe with all my heart that he’s finally at peace in the presence of the God he loved.
I’ll miss him.
I’ll carry him with me.
And I’ll always be proud to be just like my dad.
I know he will be missed. (I’m in Florida with grands or I would have come). Trust in the Lord…and lean not on your own understanding.