James "Jim" David Reaves

Known to most as Jim, he was born in Memphis, Tennessee on October 10th, 1931 to Wiley Evans Reaves Sr. and Mattie L. Rainey. Jim was one of six children and is preceded in death by his parents and siblings, Jeffrey Reaves Sr., Wiley Reaves Il, Samuel Reaves Sr., Grace Warmath.

He is survived by his sister, Velda Frizzell of Cordova, TN.; his loving wife, Melva D. Reaves (McIntyre); daughters; Valerie L. (Phillip) Mounes of Marysville, WA and Melanie K. (Curtis) Hedrick of Wichita, KS. Grandchildren; Jasmine Mounes of Seattle, WA, Evan D. Mounes of Marysville,WA, Haley C. Mounes of Bellingham, WA. David L. Hedrick, Matthew C. Hedrick and Brandon T. Hedrick, all of Wichita, KS. and many nephews and nieces.

Jim's love of planes began in the Air Force, where he served as an Airplane Mechanic, stationed in Odessa, TX and Phoenix, AZ. He also did some much loved flying during his service to his country. Flying planes was one of the favorite memories and accomplishments of his life.

Jim and Melva met at her church and two years later were married in Memphis on April 5th, 1958. They welcomed their first daughter Valerie in Memphis. Second daughter Melanie was born in St. Louis after their move to the suburb of Floridsant, MO. They moved again to Decatur, Illinois for a time, finally landing in Wichita in 1972. They raised their girls in a beautiful westside home that they built, and then found another westside home that was their dream. They lived there happily for 32 years until recently becoming residents at Park West Plaza Retirement Community. Jim took great pride in caring for their homes and was known by those who loved him as "Mr. Fixit".

Jim had two careers, first spending 35 years with the Federal Civil Service as a Quality Control Inspector for the Defense Dept. While there, he began his second career as a residential and commercial Real Estate Agent and Broker, which he did for 40 years. His distinguished accomplishments are too numerous to mention and he was widely respected in both of these arenas. He received awards for his innovations and improvement implementations for the Defense Dept., and accolades during his time in Real Estate.

Jim lived a life that demonstrated the love of Christ through not only his service to his entire family, but also to his church, his community and to his many friends. He began a team of Meals on Wheels volunteers in his Real Estate office and with Melva, volunteered at the Lord's Diner for four years.

If you were blessed to know Jim, you knew him be a kind, honest, hard working man of faith. You enjoyed his dry sense of humor and laughed at his clean Dad jokes. You saw how deeply he loved Melva, and undoubtedly witnessed his daily devotion to God. His daughters adored him and will never forget what a remarkable father they were blessed to have. He will be deeply missed until we see him again in heaven. His family will be forever grateful for his humble example of what it means to live your faith every day.

A visitation for James with family present will be held Monday, April 3, 2023 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Resthaven Mortuary, 11800 West Highway 54, Wichita, KS 67209. A funeral service will occur Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 10:00 AM at Resthaven Mortuary.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.ResthavenMortuary-Cemetery.com for the Reaves family.