James Lewis Churchwell

Born James Lewis Churchwell in Genesee, Idaho on April 21, 1931, Jim grew up moving along the Northern Pacific rail lines in Idaho and Washington. He remembered riding the train to Spokane to go shopping or Montana to visit relatives. He stayed in Ritzville after his parents moved so he could graduate with classmates he knew, taking a job at the service station. Jim took a few courses at Eastern Washington University before being stationed in Okinawa with the Air Force during the Korean Conflict. Feeling called to ministry, he attended Northwest Christian College in Eugene, Oregon where he made lifelong friends, earned a bachelor’s degree, and traveled to the Holy Land. Then Jim went to seminary at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma where he met and married Bonnie Fenley in 1962. They moved to Rifle, Colorado in 1964 where three of their children were born. In 1968, they moved to Colfax, Washington where they were living when their fourth child was born. In 1971, the family moved to Spokane, Washington where Jim was the pastor of Jefferson Street Christian Church. In 1977, he earned a master’s degree in behavioral sciences from Whitworth College which was helpful in his ministry. Jim later took a job at the post office as a mail handler.

For more than 20 years, Jim served as a Christian (Disciples of Christ) pastor in Spokane. While working full-time at the post office, Jim preached on Sundays. After retiring, he continued to preach and, with talented leaders and volunteers, added adult Bible study, kids club for after-school reading, a 12-step program, visitation day, men’s breakfast, and youth group to his list of activities at the church. Jim touched the lives of many of all ages in the name of Jesus.

While working full-time and raising four kids, Jim and Bonnie enjoyed many outdoor activities. They always had a big garden in addition to planting and tending fruit trees, canning and freezing food for the winter. In summer, green beans climbed a trellis that shaded the house and provided food through the coming year. Favorite summer-time outings included driving into the mountains to pick huckleberries and visiting parks for a picnic or hike.

Having grown up during the Great Depression and working on his uncles’ farms during the summers, Jim was skilled with his hands. He and his father built a treehouse, complete with tire swing and slide, that withstood the hard use of both his and the neighborhood children. He expanded the family home by completing a dormer and bathroom in their home. He maintained his beloved Ford Econoline truck and built a custom canopy for it. He also patiently taught each of his children how to change a tire and then required the demonstration of that skill before allowing them to drive the family vehicles.

When the children were young, Jim and Bonnie would take them trick-or-treating for UNICEF. When the kids were older, they walked in CROP Hunger Walks, first in Spokane, then McMinnville, raising money for the international relief organization Church World Service and to support local food pantries. Jim appreciated how well those organizations use funds to support families to secure food, shelter, health, school, and employment.

Jim and Bonnie attended nearly every concert and sporting event of their four children, watching Shadle Park High School girls' basketball games from 1982 – 1989 including three state champion tournaments. They continued this support by attending their grandchildren’s talent shows, concerts, martial arts tournaments, and school plays. Grandpa Jim often picked up his grandsons weekly from martial arts practice, generally sending them home with a take-out pizza.

Jim and Bonnie hosted many people in their home: traveling choirs, regional band competitors, and Japanese students from Spokane's sister city, Nishinomia. Every summer for many years, students stayed with the family for two weeks. They were able to visit some of these home-stay students when they visited daughter Wendy in Japan in 1993.

Traveling was an activity Jim enjoyed. When daughter Ann was working in China, Jim and Bonnie visited for a month, traveling and visiting the schools for special-needs children where Ann was volunteering. They also enjoyed visiting daughter Lisa in Alaska and having son Steve stay with them in Spokane during his monthly Air Force reserves weekend. Jim always had stories about his trip to the Holy Land for anyone who wanted to listen.

Jim and Bonnie befriended immigrants and supported children overseas. At Northwest Christian College, Jim made a lasting friendship with a man from South Korea and helped support that family. He and Bonnie sponsored children through Compassion International, helping students get an education and stay with their families in their communities. In McMinnville, Jim and Bonnie befriended immigrants Jose and Maria who have become as close as family.

After moving to McMinnville in 2007, Jim and Bonnie volunteered at local churches. Every June, they collected abandoned lost-and-found coats and clothes from the schools to distribute through First Christian Church’s City Outreach Ministry. He enjoyed the back-to-school coat giveaway and breaking down worn-out furniture at City Outreach. Jim and Bonnie also volunteered monthly at First Presbyterian Church’s Community Dinner for the poor and lonely.

After Bonnie’s passing in 2019, Jim reconnected with Kathy Scheib. In 1944, his older sister married her older brother, so they had seen each other at family events through the years. Jim and Kathy vowed their love to each other in Puerto Vallarta on Nov 20, 2020. They were snowbirds spending a month in Mexico; winters in Mesa, Arizona; and summers in McMinnville. Jim was delighted to spend his last years with Kathy.

Jim is survived by his wife, Kathy; daughter Ann Churchwell; son Steven Churchwell and family Crissy, Sarah, and Rachel; daughter Wendy Sagers and family John, Robert, and Thomas; and daughter Lisa Bell and husband Wayne. He was preceded in death by wife Bonnie, sister Helen and brother-in-law Richard Schell, and parents James and Elva Churchwell.

A celebration of life will be held August 2, 2025 at 1 pm at First Presbyterian Church in McMinnville, OR.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Church World Service at https://cwsglobal.org/donate/.