REV. JAMES ROBERT "JIM" DeGUIRE

June 9, 1931 - September 20, 2020

PERRY – Reverend James Robert "Jim" DeGuire, 90, passed away peacefully on Sunday morning, September 20, 2020. Visitation will be on Thursday, September 24, 2020, from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. in the Chapel at Watson-Hunt Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be on Friday, September 25, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Haynesville with Reverend David Fisher officiating. Interment will be in the church cemetery immediately following the service. Jim proudly served our country in the U.S. Navy. He received a Bachelor Degree at Hardin-Simmons College in Texas and a Divinity Degree from Southwestern Theological Seminary. Serving as a missionary, Reverend Jim worked in Texas, Utah, Ohio, New Mexico, and Georgia, including Sylvester, where he and his late wife were in ministry together. Through the years, they would find inner-city, lower-socioeconomic areas and host Vacation Bible School for kids during the summers. They were delighted to pick up many of those same children and take them to church with their own family on Sundays. His children remember “packing the station wagon full of kids.” Reverend Jim was a missionary with the Southern Baptist Convention for thirty-one years. In 2004, Reverend DeGuire and his family settled in Perry and became active members in First Baptist Church of Haynesville. He was a member of the AAA Sunday School Class, and continued to worship until his health would no longer allow his attendance. Left to cherish the memories they made with Reverend Jim are his children, David DeGuire (Tina) of Ohio, Betty Lehman (Larry) of Michigan, Judy Stevens of Ohio, John DeGuire of Canton,GA, Dan DeGuire (Kelli) of Calhoun, GA, and Tim DeGuire (Kathy) of Perry; fourteen grandchildren who lovingly referred to him as “Papa;” seven great-grandchildren; seven great-great-grandchildren; several nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family members. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Martha Temple DeGuire; an infant child, Faye Louise DeGuire; his brother, Dalton DeGuire; and his sisters, Alice Brooks and Louise Brooks. Condolences for the family may be left in the online guestbook at www.watsonhunt.com. Watson-Hunt Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements.