James L. Pryor Jr., a retired travel agency owner and golfer, died of complications from orthopedic surgery Jan. 12 at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. He was 72.
Born and raised in Charlottesville, Va., Mr. Pryor earned a bachelor's degree in 1955 from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. From 1955 to 1957, he served with the Army's Special Forces.
After leaving the Army, he went to work at the former Washington National Airport as a ticket agent and later was promoted to sales. He worked for the old Eastern Airlines and later for British Air and Air France before establishing Four Seasons Travel Inc. in Towson.
For 38 years until closing the business in 2002, Mr. Pryor had agencies in several Hutzler's department stores and later in Cockeysville. One of his major institutional clients was the Baptist International Mission Board, said his wife of 32 years, the former Nancy L. Crum.
Mr. Pryor subsequently worked as a mortgage broker for several area companies.
A longtime resident of Baltimore County's Phoenix, he was a charter member of Towson Golf and Country Club and enjoyed sailing the Chesapeake Bay aboard his 34-foot sailboat. He was also an accomplished jazz pianist.
Services were Tuesday.
Also surviving are a son, James L. Pryor III of Detroit; three daughters, Mitzi C. Brandon of Mount Airy, Kelly S. Doub of Severna Park and Karen L. Borden of Hingham, Mass.; two stepsons, Scott C. Bell of Phoenix, Baltimore County and C. Richard Bell Jr. of Reisterstown; two sisters, Elaine Bonn of Edina, Minn., and Betsy Bernier of Virginia Beach, Va.; and seven grandchildren. An earlier marriage to Grace Vota ended in divorce.