James Benjamin Wagner

Funeral services will be held at Woodland Terrace in Cary on July 27 at 7:00 pm. A second service will be held on July 28, 2019 at Jamestown Presbyterian Church in Jamestown, NC at 2:00 pm.

A native of Rochester, NY, Jim graduated from Houghton College in Caneadea, NY. He attended the Vrije University in Amsterdam, Netherlands, as a Fulbright Scholar, and then went on to receive his Doctorate of Theology at the University of Basel, where he studied with leading theologian Karl Barth.

For over fifty years, Jim devoted his career to the study and preaching of God’s word. He served as the senior or interim pastor for eleven different churches in Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Most recently, he served as interim pastor and then pastor emeritus at Jamestown Presbyterian Church in Jamestown, NC. He shared God’s grace with countless parishioners, and profoundly impacted seminarians and other students with his love for languages and the study of the Bible.

Jim is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Karen Wagner, and by his children Kirsten Garwood of Dallas, TX, Susan Glenn of Cary, and Lars Wagner of Durham. In addition, he is survived by his eight grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to The Presbyterian Foundation (www.presbyterianfoundation.org), a nonprofit corporation dedicated to the spread of the gospel and the compassionate work of the church.

Well done, good and faithful servant (Matt 25:21).