James Lee Bennett, loving husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather, went to be with His Lord at the age of 86 on Sunday, January 2, 2022. He died peacefully at his home in Boring, Oregon.
James, who mostly went by the name Jim, was born on January 19, 1935, in Chariton, Iowa, to Jacob and Vada Bennett (née Wheeler); he was the eighth oldest out of ten children. Around the age of 8, his family moved to Boring, Oregon, where he attended Orient Grade School and then Sandy Union High School, graduating in 1953. As a child, Jim attended Gresham Assembly of God church, where he met his future wife, Sherry Hale. The couple wed at the church on July 25, 1958, and they began their life together in Gresham.
Soon after his family relocated to Boring from Iowa, Jim worked on the family farm in the Compton area and joined his older siblings in harvesting berries. He enjoyed sports and competed in football, baseball, and wrestling. After high school, he worked at Reynolds Metals Company in Troutdale for several years. In 1963, Jim was employed at Freightliner at Portland as an expediter and a foreman. He retired in 2001, after working 38 years for the company.
Jim was a coach for Boring Little League Baseball from 1967 to 1977 and had the privilege of coaching his two sons during that time. Some highlights of that time included winning the Clackamas County Little League championship several times with one team advancing to become the State Runner-Up team. Jim also volunteered his time at Sandy Assembly of God church, where he and his family attended for four decades from the 1960s through the 1990s. He taught Sunday School, sang in the church choir, and was a commander of the boys’ Royal Rangers outpost where he helped many Rangers with their pinewood derby cars.
Jim and Sherry later attended Damascus Assembly of God and then the majority of his retirement years as a member of Living Word Fellowship in Boring. They began attending Living Word Fellowship as a result of Jim’s involvement in actively helping the church finish constructing the interior of the building. For the past 17 years, Jim served as the Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge (BGMC) leader for the church, coordinating monthly giving challenges between the boys and girls in the church. Since 2004, he personally led a recycling drive that has resulted in over $40,000 donated to BGMC through recycling efforts alone.
Through the years, Jim enjoyed hunting, primarily every fall season in eastern Oregon with extended family and friends. A lover of nature, Jim took up the hobby of making wooden birdhouses, which were frequently auctioned at the annual family reunions, even as recently as last summer. Jim and Sherry both enjoyed traveling with friends to various parts of the country. Jim has been described as a loving, kind, and gentle man, who was known as a practical joker at work and a detailed storyteller at home. His patience and compassion were shown to many people, and he never hesitated to help others in need.
Jim is survived by his wife Sherry of Boring; son James Michael and wife Pamela of Boring; daughter Rev. Debra and husband Rev. Brian Gering of Union City, California; son Jerry and wife Tracy of Sandy; and daughter Lori and husband Michael Brown of Boring. He is also survived by 12 grandchildren: Chad, Brandon; Trevor, Aaron, Jered; Zachary, Aaron, Emily; Makenzie, Christian, Chloe, and Amelia; and 6 great grandchildren: Abigail, Saoirse, Lucy; Charlotte; Kimber and Jensen. Jim is also survived by one sister, Mary “Sue” Anderson of Simi Valley, California, and many nephews and nieces.
He is preceded in death by eight of his siblings.
The public is invited to a memorial service on Saturday, January 22, 2022, at 1:00 pm, at Living Word Fellowship Church, 12700 SE Orient Dr, Boring, Oregon.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made payable to “Living Word Fellowship” and designate the donation to “BGMC.”
A recent news article on Jim’s recycling efforts to benefit BGMC can be found at this link:
Assemblies of God (USA) Official Web Site | Can Man Brings Excitement to BGMC Sundays (ag.org)