James Thomas Carriger, 74, died on Saturday, October 1, 2022, at his home in Pryor, Okla. with his family at his bedside. James was born on March 27, 1948, at Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital in El Dorado, Kan. and lived at Haverhill and Augusta, Kan. through high school. He graduated from Augusta High School in the class of 1967. He was born to Paul and Irene (Lowrance) Carriger and was the youngest of four children. His siblings included brothers Bob and Richard, and sister Peggy. James enlisted in the United States Navy in the summer of 1967, following in the footsteps of his father who was a WWII submariner and his two brothers who served in the surface Navy. James attended Engineman school upon completion of boot camp. He then volunteered for submarine school at New London, Conn. His first shipboard assignment was the submarine Atule USS-403, homeported in Key West, Fla. The Atule was commissioned in 1943 and was the last diesel powered submarine in the Atlantic Fleet and was decommissioned in 1969. He was then transferred to the nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine Von Stueben SSBN 632, homeported in Charleston, S.C. That tour was followed by duty on the Daniel Boone SSBN 629, also homeported in Charleston. He made several patrols on the three submarines. In 1977, James left the Navy and relocated his family to Pryor, Okla. and went to work for Air Products Corp. as a plant operator. He retired in 2013 after 37 years with the company. Retirement years were busy with bass fishing and family. On May 10, 1968 James married Glenda Sue Wray in Augusta, Kan. Three children were born to this marriage; Sherrie, Shawn, and Brandi. James and Glenda later divorced. James is survived by: his three children, Sheri McClure, Shawn Carriger, and Brandi McWhirt, all of Pryor, Okla.; sister, Peggy Beene and husband Lee of Mesa, Ariz., brother, Bob Carriger and wife Mary Jane of Broken Arrow, Okla.; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death
