The Rev. James William Hartley of St. Louis passed suddenly on Christmas Eve 2022 at the age of eighty, due to complications of Covid-19. Jim is survived by his wife of fifty-seven years, Virginia (Ginny), his twin sister, Mary Ann Pogue, younger sister Elizabeth Hartley, five children – Jay and his wife Cory; Lynn Tiede and husband Jon; Troy; Brett and wife Lou Ellen; and Dianna – four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Jim was born in Washington, DC to John (Jack) and Maxine Cook Hartley, and grew up in Euclid, OH. He graduated from the College of Wooster in Ohio and the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA. Jim served congregations at Riverside Presbyterian Church in Clinton, IA; West Park Presbyterian Church in Davenport, IA; First Presbyterian Church of La Grange, IL; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, IN; and Flossmoor Community Church in Flossmoor, IL. Since retiring to St. Louis he has served on various committees in the local Presbytery. He has regularly attended First Congregational Church of St. Louis with his family. Jim and Ginny were foster parents in Iowa, caring more than two dozen children – infants to teenagers – over the course of seven years. Jim continued to learn and facilitate learning in others throughout his life with groups such as Parenting for Peace and Justice, Stephen Ministry, and Witnessing Whiteness. He also enjoyed helping others in more concrete ways, including through Habitat for Humanity and leading work trips across the US and to the Yucatan, Mexico. Jim’s ashes will be interred at the columbarium at Flossmoor Community Church. Details regarding a service will be forthcoming. In lieu of flowers, his family asks that you consider a donation in his name to the Presbyterian Mission Agency, https://www.presbyterianmission.org.
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COVID-19 Funeral Assistance – FEMA is now helping those that have lost a loved one from COVID-19. Click HERE to review the information on eligibility and requirements on the COVID-19 Funeral.
I have many beautiful memories of my cousin Jim! As a child visiting Jim and Ginny in Iowa, their bustling household with their kids and also foster children, they welcomed our family of 6 and we kids played with theirs. Each visit was filled with activity and joyful conversations. As I grew older, Jim and Ginny graciously kept in touch through the years. Their witness of Christ’s love touched my life in many ways, I would like to think that they modeled a lifestyle that I embraced. I am so grateful and so sorry for your loss.
What a gift to know Jim and to participate in reading groups led by him. Our love and condolences to his family. ❤️
Jim and I have lead closely parallel lives as adults which has made our relationship closer that many brothers-in-law. Jim and Ginny, my sister, met while volunteering at Beacon Neighborhood House in Chicago in 1962. They quickly became a pair. I met Ginny’s Big Heart while visiting them that Summer. They married after Ginny graduated from Muskingum College in 1966. I met my wife, Barbara, in 1963 and we also married in 1966. Our children were close in age. We visited frequently. Later our mother, Ruth, and Jim’s father, Jack, both moved to Florida. Visits with their common grandchildren and their interests in music led to their wedding in 1975. We had fun with our titles as step-brother-brother-in-law. Jim took pleasure in introducing his step-mother-mother-in-law to his congregations. Loosing such a kind, loving faithful brother is a shock, but it cannot compare with Ginny’s loss of the Man she fell in love with at age 18
I have fond memories of the Hartley’s at Riverside in Clinton. They welcomed my family (and others) at a tumultuous time and made us all feel we had found a church home. I didn’t realize how fortunate we were, as a young teen, but my adult self is forever grateful that’s where we landed. Jim and Ginny had a lot to do with that.
Ginny, I am so sorry to learn of Jim’s sudden death on Christmas Eve. I think of you both and realize how long we’ve known one another. I turned 80 in March and Ed will follow me in October…he and Jim were at Wooster together. I have good memories of times we’ve spent in Iowa when your family was young and mine just beginning. Then, of course, I went to Muskingum (“63) and Ed to Wooster (“65) . I know you are surrounded by family and I’m sure you have received a lot of support from them and from friends nearby. I always enjoyed my times with you both. You are in my thoughts and prayers.