The oldest of four children, Jim was born in 1925 in Glasgow, Scotland. At 18, he was called to service in the British Navy, serving in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during World War II. He spent ten years in Africa after the war ended, working as a chemist in the copper mines of Northern Rhodesia for several years before answering the Lord’s call to serve as a missionary in the Belgian Congo. It was during this time that he met and married his wife, Alice Willadsen, the beginning of a partnership that would continue more than 50 years, until her death in 2011.
Jim’s life was one of consistent service, laboring in the Lord’s work in Africa, Newfoundland and California, and the many lives that were touched by his efforts are a continuing testament to the desire, the faith and the conviction that he brought to every facet of his life. To attempt to list those who were influenced and comforted by his teaching and support, his exhortation and his love, would take too long and be impossible to complete.
In the last few days of his time with us, Jim was surrounded by the love and presence of family and dear friends, and his passing was peaceful and free of pain, wrapped in the sheltering arms of the Savior. He was peacefully and mercifully taken home to heaven, secure in the knowledge that for those that know the Lord, this not goodbye, but merely a short separation.
He is survived by his sister, Christine (Alec), his son, Ken (Mary), and three grandchildren, Jessica, Sawyer and Micah.
There will be a short graveside service on Wednesday, August 28, 11am at Goleta Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Sarah House, in Santa Barbara.
Arrangements entrusted to Welch-Ryce-Haider Funeral Chapels.
