James Allen Wiant 1909-1989

WIANT, JORGENSEN, KNIGHT, PATRICK, ALLEN

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 10/20/2012 at 00:14:30

James Wiant
Estherville – Services for James Wiant, 79, were held Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Estherville with the Rev. Dr. John Besore III officiating. Burial will be at a later date. Mr. Wiant died Thursday, September 23, 1989 at Holy Family Hospital in Estherville.

James Allen Wiant was born on November 12, 1909 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The youngest son of Rev. William Allen and his second wife, Lois Johnson Wiant, he was the brother of ten distinguished clergymen, missionaries and musicians.

He grew up in Springfield, Ohio and received his B.A. degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1933. He began work as a coach and counselor at the Norris Foundation for Boys in Wisconsin where he met Eva Dorothea Jorgensen. They were married on May 30, 1937. Their early years were spent in Wisconsin. In 1942 they moved to Iowa where they lived until Jim was transferred to Colorado in 1951. They raised four children. Following Eva’s tragic death after a long illness, Jim was named Colorado’s “Father of the Year.”

On August 17, 1958, he married Jean Knight Patrick in Estherville. She and her two children joined him and his four children in Colorado where they lived until their return to Estherville in December of 1978.

From 1943 until his retirement in 1974, Jim was a professional field executive with the Boy Scouts of America. During those years he served on a host of committees first in Iowa and later in Colorado. As a scout organizer, administrator, trainer and camp director he inspired hundreds of men and women and touched the lives of countless boys. As an active layman, Rotarian and Elk, he worked to inspire the quality of life wherever he lived.

Following his retirement from the Boy Scouts he worked for several years as a Vista volunteer and a state leader of the American Association of Retired People. Since moving to Estherville he has served as the County Coordinator of Civil Defense and has had a long association with Iowa Lake Community College. He was a dedicated Rotarian serving both as local president and as the Rotarian Governor’s representative to clubs throughout northern Iowa. He was a choir member and deacon of the Estherville Presbyterian Church.

Jim was a tireless and energetic organizer, community activist, exuberant musician and showman, a camping authority and inveterate craftsman-hobbyist. Whether working during a civil defense crisis or sculpting ice for the Winter Carnival, his was a life of zest, an inspiration to his children, grandchildren, and all those who worked with him.

He is survived by his wife Jean and sister Lois. He also leaves his six children, Fredrick William Wiant and Dr. Jon Allen Wiant of Falls Church, Virg.; Prov. Sarah Kirstin Wiant of Lexington, Virg., Stephen Knight Patrick of Denver, Colo.; James Leslie Wiant of St. Cloud, Minn.; and Melissa Ann Patrick of Estherville as well as ten grandchildren. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, September 25, 1989)