JESSIE VANCE ALSTON JR.

A Celebration of Life and Legacy for Jessie “JV” Vance Alston Jr. will be held at noon Saturday, March 16, 2024, at High Hills AME Church, 6780 Meeting House Road, Dalzell, with the Rev. Phillip Washington, pastor, officiating. Interment will follow in the High Hills AME Church Cemetery.
Jessie “JV” Vance Alston Jr. was born in Camden, Kershaw County, on Oct. 3, 1968, to the late Jessie Vance Alston and the late Mary DeVaughn Lee Alston. He departed this earthly life on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, at Trinity Health Ann Arbor Hospital of Ypsilanti, Michigan.
He attended the public schools in former Sumter School District 2 and graduated in 1987 from Hillcrest High School and Sumter County Career Center. While at Hillcrest High School, he was honored to perform with the drumline of the Wildcat Marching Band and run track and field. It was track and field that earned him scholarships to Appalachian State University, Benedict College and Shaw University. During his time at the Sumter County Career Center, Mr. Alston studied and earned certification in building construction while working as an apprentice for his father’s business in grading and paving. In addition, he followed his father’s legacy with a love for baseball and the Alston Braves baseball team.
He began his construction career in 1987 as co-operator of Jessie V. Alston Grading & Paving. Jessie took his talent to Neptune, New Jersey, where he worked for 84 Lumber Company, then to Jacksonville, Florida, before he returned to Rembert to continue operations as co-operator of the family business. He dedicated years of service to the family business of Jessie V. Alston Grading and Paving Company before deciding to relocate to Michigan as a grading and paving contractor, where he was last employed with B&J Asphalt Paving Company in Romulus, Michigan.
He was a member of High Hills African Methodist Church in Dalzell all his youth and attended Sunday school every Sunday. He was a member of the Youth Choir and Young People’s Division (YPD) under the leadership of the Rev. Brogdon.
Upon the passing of his late father, Jessie became the primary operator and CEO of Jessie V. Alston Grading & Paving. “JV” loved and cared for all he encountered. He never met a stranger and worked faithfully until his illness.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, the late Woodrow Augustus Lee and the late Sarah Vaughn Lee; paternal grandparents, the late Jimmie Alston and the late Susan Jackson Alston; and his beloved uncles and aunts, Manning “Claborn” Alston, Sammie (Margaret) Wright, Lenora “Pie” (Charlie) Alston, Bobbie Jean Rucker and Jimmie Lee (Freddie) Harper.
He leaves to cherish precious memories and rejoice in his life, his loving sister, Mariam “Tonya” L. Alston, as he called her “Chubby”, of Rembert; nephews, Honorable Brian L. Alston and Tyler J. Greene, all of Rembert; a cousin raised in the home, retired Maj. Darrell W. (Lorine) Alston, of Woodbridge, Virginia; aunts, Betty Joann (William) Johnson, of Camden, Susie Mae Alston of Neptune, New Jersey, Dorothy (Calvin) Butts of Irvington, New Jersey, Helen Clanton of Columbia and Rebecca “Essie Mae” Williams of Neptune, New Jersey; one uncle, Marshall (Grace) Alston, of Neptune, New Jersey; and a host of other relatives and friends.