A Vicksburg man injured in a one-car wreck on Halls Ferry Road Tuesday night has died.

James McGee, 74, 8909 Halls Ferry Road, was pronounced dead Thursday at 7:40 p.m at University Medical Center in Jackson, said Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey, who was notified of the death Friday morning.

Huskey said McGee, husband of Warren County Chancery Clerk Dot McGee, died of head injuries sustained in the wreck.

“He was a very good man,” said Huskey, who knew McGee from their work with the Civitan Club, a civic organization that raises money for handicapped children. “He’d been in the Civitan Club for more than 30 years and served it well.”

“If I had to sum him up in just one word it would be ‘steadfast,'” said McGee’s daughter, Stacey Waites. “The biggest thing about him, and I think everybody would agree with this, is that he never met a stranger. He was a compassionate man, never judgmental, and he loved to make people laugh.”

Tuesday night, McGee was traveling south on Halls Ferry Road in his 2000 Ford pickup when it ran off the road near Nine Mile Cutoff. McGee apparently overcompensated and flipped the truck, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said Wednesday. He was taken to River Region Medical Center and later airlifted to University Medical Center in Jackson.

Neither speed nor alcohol was believed to have played a part in the wreck, Pace said.

McGee was alert and responsive for a day or so after the accident, Waites said, but then became confused and disoriented. Doctors operated to remove blood clots from his brain and discovered that he had ruptured his vertebral artery, a main source of blood to the brain. “There’s no way to repair that,” Waites said.

The McGees were married for more than 53 years. James McGee was originally from Copiah County and came to Vicksburg in 1966. He worked at the Baxter-Wilson Steam Electric Station, retiring as an operating supervisor after 45 years.

He was active at Bowmar Baptist Church, serving as a deacon and attending Bible study for many years, his daughter said.

“Daddy was a big outdoorsman,” Waites added. “He loved working in the yard, planting flowers and putting up his bird feeders.”

His dog Lady, a 10-year-old German shepherd, was definitely his best friend, she said. “They were two peas in a pod.”

McGee’s funeral is set for 2 this afternoon at Riles Funeral Home. He will be buried at Sardis Baptist Church Cemetery in Copiah County.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com