Former Sabah deputy chief minister Dr James Ongkili died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Tamparuli early today, at the age of 67.

He is survived by his widow Margaret Ganduong, 68.

Ongkili, who had been wheelchair-bound for almost 10 years, died at about 1.20 am and was believed to have suffered a stroke.

According to his son-in-law Sahidin Suhaimin, James' condition had deteriorated over the last few weeks and was admitted to the hospital about a week ago.

James has six chidren - Dr David, 47, Dr Jimmy, 45, Judith, 42, Julia, 36, Paul Martin, 30, and Mark Moses 27.

According to Bernama , Sahidin said the funeral mass would be held at St John Church, Tuaran at 11am on March 22, and thereafter the burial at Bukit Aman, Jalan Kiulu.

Born on March 13, 1939 in Tambunan, James had his early education at St. Francis Xavier's School, Keningau and La Salle Secondary School, (Jesselton), Kota Kinabalu.

He holds an MA and BA (Hons) degrees from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia and and did his PhD thesis on nationalism in Malaysia at the University of Malaya.

James had served as district officer of Kinabatangan and later Keningau in 1967 and 1968.

Subsequently, he joined the academic staff of University of Malaya in January 1969 until April 1976 when he returned to Sabah to contest in the Tamparuli seat on a Berjaya ticket in the state election.

James won the seat by a large majority and was subsequently appointed Sabah minister of agriculture and fisheries on April 20, 1976.

Two months later, he was elected as vice-president of Berjaya and was appointed a member of the Sabah Foundation's board of directors on June 15, in the same year for five-year term.

James was appointed deputy chief minister cum state minister of industry and rural development on July 17, 1976. He became deputy president of Berjaya on March 18, 1977.

He was returned as the member of Parliament for Tuaran in the 1978 general election and was re-elected to the Tamparuli state seat in 1981 with a 2,559 vote majority.

He maintained the deputy chief minister's post in the state cabinet reshuffle after the election in April 1981.

Justice minister

James was appointed as a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in the cabinet reshuffle announced by the then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad on June 2, 1983.

Following the appointment, he later resigned as state assemblyman for Tamparuli. James was appointed minister of justice in the cabinet reshuffle on July 14, 1984.

He retired from active politics in July 1986 and did not seek re-election for his Tuaran parliamentary seat that year.

James announced his resignation from Berjaya on May 1988 and subsequently formed Parti Rakyat Sabah (PRS) in July 1988 and became the president.

He contested and lost the Tamparuli seat on a PRS ticket in the July 1990 Sabah state election to Wilfred Bumburing of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) which is led by his nephew Joseph Pairin Kitingan.

He resigned as president of PRS and also announced his retirement from active politics On Aug 1, 1990.

However, James joined Parti Bersatu Sabah in March 1991 as a member of the Tamparuli Division.