James E. Echols, former president and chief executive officer of Cargill Cotton Co., died Tuesday at Baptist Memorial Hospital- Memphis.\r\n\r\nHe was 65.\r\n\r\nMr. Echols headed Cargill Cotton as president and chief executive officer for the past 13 years. He retired in April, closing out a 43- year career with the 124-year-old company.\r\n\r\nThe global cotton merchandising company, formerly Hohenberg Bros. Co., manages about 12 to 15 percent of the U.S.-produced cotton crop.\r\n\r\nIt deals in cotton in more than 50 countries, said Gary Taylor, who succeeded Mr. Echols in April.\r\n\r\nTaylor had worked with Mr. Echols for 27 years.\r\n\r\n""His integrity and leadership skills were second to none,"" Taylor said. ""Jim will be sorely missed by the cotton industry and the employees at Cargill Cotton.""\r\n\r\nMr. Echols enjoyed his family, friends and golfing at Chickasaw Country Club, Taylor said.\r\n\r\nCargill Inc., a Minneapolis-based commodities company, acquired Hohenberg Bros. Co., in 1975 and changed its name to Cargill Cotton in 2002.\r\n\r\nMr. Echols was chairman of the National Cotton Council of America in 2001 and represented more than 28,500 cotton growers, merchants and textile companies in lobby efforts on behalf of the industry.\r\n\r\n""Even though Jim Echols was a competitor, I had the utmost respect and love for him,"" said William B. 'Billy' Dunavant Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Dunavant Enterprises Inc.\r\n\r\n""He was a true leader in the cotton industry. He served in all the important roles in the industry. Not only will Billy Dunavant miss him, the cotton industry will miss him.""\r\n\r\nMr. Echols was a past president of the Southern Cotton Association, the American Cotton Shippers Association and Cotton Council International. He was a past chairman of Cotton Council International and a former member of the board of managers of the New York Cotton Exchange.\r\n\r\nMr. Echols also had been chief executive officer of Cargill's worldwide product line that which included Ralli Brothers and Coney in Liverpool, England.\r\n\r\nServices will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Second Presbyterian Church. Burial will be at Memorial Park Cemetery. Canale Funeral Directors is handling arrangements.\r\n\r\nMr. Echols is survived by his wife, Evelyn Turner Echols; three sons, A. Turner Echols, Kenneth E. Echols and James R. Echols, all of Memphis; a sister, Anne Echols Murphy of Columbia, Tenn.; a brother, U.S. Dist. Judge Robert L. Echols of Nashville, and six grandchildren.\r\n\r\nThe family requests any memorials be made to Second Presbyterian World Missions, Church Health Center or the American Cancer Society.\r\n\r\n- Jerome Obermark: 529-2320\r\n\r\nThe Commercial Appeal Memphis/
