James Smith "Jim" Lasater died suddenly in Clare, Michigan, in May, 1981. He was a partner in Nye & Lasater Oil & Gas Properties. He was a member of the Landman Association and the Methodist Church, attended the University of Oklahoma and graduated from Central State University. Services were held at All Souls Episcopal Church and he was interred at Rose Hill Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Dorothea, sons Joseph Douglas III and James Rainey Lasater, and a daughter, Laura Elizabeth Lasater.