James Bond (88) passed away on Friday, March 15, 2024 at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital. He was born on January 1, 1936 to the late Lucius Bond and Lucy Shaw Bond of Brownsville, Tennessee. He is preceded in death by his loving wife, Hazel Bond and son, Dwight Bond; and siblings Emmett Bond, Curtis Bond, Elizabeth (Don) Moorman, Leon Bond, Calvin Bond, and Evelyn Withers. He is survived by two sisters, Lillian (Alfred) Smith and Katherine Azmoun, and two brothers, Thomas Bond and Glen (Pattie) Bond. James is also survived by four children; James Bond, Jr., Dr. Helen Bond, Craig Bond, and Eunice Bond; grandchildren, Dwight Bond Jr., Brandy Bond, Chanel Jefferson, Adam Jefferson, Jason Vocal, Kyle Bond, Bryant Bond, Christopher Cotton, Brianna Bond, Tiffany Cotton, James Ike Bond, Danielle Bond, Talia Bond, Alexis (Bond) Flohrschutz, LaNyce Bond, and Craig Bond, Jr., and many loving great-grandchildren and a host of nieces and nephews.
James was the minister of the Grace Street Church of Christ for over 40 years and then served as the minister of the Southside Church of Christ in Mansfield, Ohio. He also served as clergy at Med-Central of Mansfield (OhioHealth). James owned and operated a local store with his brother Leon, and retired from Copperweld of Shelby, Ohio after 32 years of service.
Always a Man of God, Minister Bond traveled throughout the United States and Mexico preaching the Gospel. His travels took him from Olive Hill, Kentucky to Miami, Florida to Chicago, Illinois to East Orange, New Jersey to El Centro, California and Mexicali in northern Mexico, and everywhere in between. Minister Bond was renowned for his preaching abilities with sermons such as, “The Pearl of Great Price,” “Safety First,” “Only the Rich Can go to Heaven,” “Too Good for Hell, But Not Good Enough for Heaven,” “Get it in Black and White,” “What I Wish I Could Preach,” and “Get What You Need, Before You Need it.” As a loving father and grandfather, he cherished hosting family gatherings at the farm, reminiscing about his childhood in Tennessee, buying and selling horses with his brother Thomas (Teo) at Sugarcreek, westerns, country music, buffet meals at the Golden Corral, and most of all spending time with his beloved family. His final days were spent on the family farm with views of his red barn, fishing pond, and rolling meadows with his loving daughters Eunice and Helen by his side.
Here lies the “real James Bond.” This 007 never made a movie, never won an Academy Award, and was never celebrated on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But he was a box-office hit to his family and friends and above all to God. His Bond movie began in rural Tennessee to the family farm in Ohio and now to Heaven’s pearly gates. At the top of his long list of credits is his dedication to family, faith, and his loving wife Hazel.
Come celebrate his life on Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. at the Wappner Funeral Directors-Mansfield at 98 S. Diamond St., Mansfield, Ohio. Minister Don Wright of Brown Street Church of Christ will officiate the memorial service. Burial will follow at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Shiloh, Ohio. The family will receive friends on Friday, March 22, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Wappner.
Words of condolence may be expressed at www.wappner.com
