James David Manchester

James (Jim) was born on January 16, 1947 in Defiance, Ohio to John and Esther (Maxine) Manchester. As a young boy, his family moved to southern Florida where he spent a lot of his adolescent life until college. He enjoyed swimming and surfing in high school as well as fishing and working on fishing boats. He attended college at East Carolina University and received a teaching degree, and he was also a member of the competitive swim team.

After college, he returned to Florida to teach and coach swimming in Pompano Beach. He also participated in the Masters Swim Program. Jim had an entrepreneurial spirit and held several different types of jobs throughout his life.

If you knew Jim, you knew how funny, friendly, and generous he was. He had a lively sense of humor and enjoyed the little things in life. He was an encouragement to all that knew him, and if you were his friend, you were a friend for life. Jim grew up with a passion for fishing, which carried on up until the time of his death. In recent years, he loved going down to the Florida Keys with his sister and brother-in-law to spend time fishing or enjoying happy hour. Jim loved the Lord and served his church and community faithfully. He cared a lot for the people around him, and was also very passionate about financial wellness. He loved being able to help others with this and was very involved in financial ministry with his church, Hope Community Church.

Jim is preceded in death by his brother, John Daniel Manchester and both his parents, John and Maxine Manchester. Jim is survived by his loving daughter, Julia Blonshine and her husband William; his sister Jane Meyers and her husband Dan; a niece, Kelli Overway and husband Joel, and their children, Lucas, Mason and Nora; a nephew, Chris Meyers and wife Ashley; and former spouses Lois Jordan and Diane Manchester.

A memorial service is being planned for April 17, 2021. For information about attending, please email [email protected]. Condolences may be left at www.apexfuneral.net. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hope Community Church in Morrisville (www.gethope.net) or Compass Financial Ministry (www.compass1.org).