ILION - James A. Covey Sr., 73, of Elizabethtown Road, passed away Thursday morning, Oct. 18, 2001, in St. Elizabeth Medical Center, Utica. He was born May 17, 1928, in South Ilion, son of the late Clifford and Pearl Haver Covey. He was raised and educated in Herkimer schools. On Feb. 18, 1950, he married Leona P. Madison in Herkimer. James had worked for Shrine Theaters as a doorman in the 1950s. He worked as an auto re-conditioner for Castle Ford and Thomas Ford companies and later was a chef for the Empire Diner in Herkimer, retiring in the 1970s. Surviving besides his wife of 51 years, Leona, are two sons, James A. Covey Jr. of Utica and Fred E. and his wife Dawn Covey of Cherry Valley; two daughters, Carol and her husband Thomas Jowett of Bridgewater and Katherine and her husband Robert Apel of Utica; a sister, Betty Jane Markwardt and her husband Edward of Zephyrhills, Fla.; nine grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren; several nieces, nephews and cousins. Funeral service will be on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Fenner Funeral Home Inc., 115 Court St., Herkimer. Interment will follow in Rural Park Cemetery, Inghams Mills. The family will be present in the funeral home to receive relatives and friends on Friday from 7-9 p.m. Memorial donations may be made to the Kingdom Hall Jehovah's Witness, Herkimer.