James L. Witt

Jim was born August 3, 1937, in Greeley, Colorado, to Curtis and Esther Witt. After living in Evans and Fosston, the family moved to Briggsdale where Jim attended high school before matriculating at Colorado State College in Greeley (now University of Northern Colorado). He graduated with a B.A. in Physical Science and earned teacher certification.

Jim married Lorraine (Baumgartner) Witt on June 24, 1960, in Prospect Valley, Colorado. They lived near Kansas City while Jim completed his Certification in Physical Therapy from the University of Kansas before moving to New Jersey. He was commissioned as an officer in the United States Public Health Service, with initial duty assignment in the USPHS Outpatient Clinic, New York City.

Upon transfer to San Francisco, Jim served as Deputy Chief of PT until 1968. Living in Mill Valley, California, Jim and Lorraine had their son John in 1965. After transfer to Savannah, Georgia, where Jim served as Chief of PT for the USPHS Hospital, their son Joel was born in 1970. In 1974 he was transferred to the U.S. Federal Prison Medical Center, Springfield, Missouri, where he served as Director of PT until his retirement from the Public Health Service in 1983, reaching the rank of Captain. He continued to do physical therapy for nursing facilities and home health agencies in Missouri.

Jim held various church ministry roles teaching, leading worship, and serving as deacon. He was actively involved with outreach to U.S. Army servicemen in Savannah, as well as to international sailors on furlough through the Port of Savannah. He and Lorraine helped start an Evangelical Free Church in Aurora, Missouri. He coached Little League baseball teams for John and Joel, played guitar for Lorraine’s southern gospel band, and wrote numerous country western songs.

In 1994, Jim and Lorraine moved back to Prospect Valley to care for her elderly parents, and Jim worked as a physical therapist for a nursing facility in Fort Morgan before his final retirement. They served in music and youth ministries for Prospect Community Church before relocating in 2013 to Brentwood, Tennessee. After Lorraine’s passing in 2018, Jim lived at NHC Cool Springs in Franklin. He will be remembered as a loving husband and an enthusiastic father and grandfather. Quick with a joke, he was also a tireless servant to patients, neighbors, and family.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Jerry, and his wife Lorraine. He is survived by his sisters Juanita, Jackie, and Carolyn, sons John and Joel, grandchildren Christina, Jason, Rachel, Natalie, and Ashlyn, and great-grandson Eli James.

Visitation will be at Stoddard Funeral Home, 3205 28th Street in Greeley, on April 30, 2018, from 12:30 – 2pm, followed by a funeral there at 2pm. Interment will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens, 3400 28th Street, Greeley.