David Lee James

David Lee James, 63, of West Terre Haute, IN passed away on Thursday, October 21, 2021 at Unity Pointe Health Trinity in Rock Island, IL. 

David was born on July 2, 1958 in Shelbyville, IN. He was the son of Danny James and Janice Grassi.  He was united in marriage to Karen Klueh on August 30, 1980.  Dave & Karen came to know the Lord in 1984 and attended the Word of Life Bible Institute in Schroon Lake, NY the following year. In 1989, both Dave & Karen made the commitment to serve in overseas ministry and in December of 1992 they moved to Hungary. Dave was the founding Director of the Word of Life Hungary Bible Institute. He devoted his time to teaching the students there, but most importantly, he poured into their lives personally. He always had time for anyone who had theological questions or needed personal counseling. His goal was to equip the next generation to know, love, and be able to rightly divide the Word of Truth. He was a missionary in Hungary for 16 years and returned to the United States in 2009 to begin a new ministry, Alliance for Biblical Integrity (ABI), with the goal of promoting a biblical hermeneutic and worldview within the evangelical community. Dave traveled to various Bible institutes and seminaries in many countries including Canada, Germany, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, India, Uganda, Ethiopia, South Korea and the Philippines. He enjoyed fishing, music, teaching and most of all, being with his family. 

David will be deeply missed by his wife as well as his children, Chris (Lili) James of Tóalmás, Hungary; Becky (Pastor David) Johns of Grandview, IA; grandchildren, Amy, Haley, Joshua and JJ James, Ava Kate and Noah Johns; his father and step-mother, Danny and Louise James of Columbus, IN; his sisters, Melinda Mosier of Columbus, IN and another sister and brother-in-law; and his brothers, Gerald (Kim) Miller of Columbus, IN and Darrell (Tara) James of Columbus, IN.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Janice.      

Memorial services will be held Saturday, October 30 at 2:00 pm at Community Bible Church in Paris, IL. 

In lieu of flowers, a memorial gift can be made to the WOL Hungary Bible Institute Scholarship Fund, in honor of Dave's desire to help young people learn the Word of God.

Gifts can be made online at https://give.wol.org/05005C

or by mailing a check to:

Word of Life International

P.O. Box 600

Schroon Lake, NY 12870

Memo: Hungary BI Scholarship Fund 05005C

The Snyder & Hollenbaugh Funeral Services of Wapello, IA is caring for the family.  Sympathy messages can be left for the family at www.sandfuneralservice.com.  

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of David Lee James, please visit our floral store.