James A. Call

Rev. James A. Call of Fort Collins went home to be with our Lord Jesus Christ on June 8, 2013. He was born December 19, 1918 to Fred James Call and Genne Belle Harris Call in Trenton, Missouri. He married the love of his life Eula Marie Smith Call on November 6, 1940 in the home of their Pastors, Glenn and Katie McClure in Trenton. They were blessed with two sons and five grandchildren, Darrell and Donna Call of Greeley and their children, Darrenn, DeaAnna Beaty and Donnell Thomas of Greeley Colorado, and Roger and Gayle Call of Colorado Springs and their children Jonathan and Melissa Joy; seven great grandchildren and a host of relatives and friends. Rev. Call dedicated 73 years of service to the Ministry and the preaching of the Gospel. Eula Call, his wife and ministry partner, preceded him in death in 2006. Rev. Call was a youth of the depression era. His early life was an eclectic mix of life on the farm with horse drawn farm implements, buggies, kerosene lamps and wood cook stoves to life in Trenton living with his mother and "riding the rails" to find work to help support the family. His rail adventures took him over most of the Western United States before he developed a serious heart condition. Dying of a serious heart valve ailment, Rev. Call came home and gave his heart to the Lord on February 17, 1939 in the Trenton Assemblies of God Church. After experiencing a miraculous healing of his heart condition shortly after his conversion, Rev. Call began his full time ministry by partnering with Rev. Lloyd Hamilton to start the Assemblies of God Church in Ridgeway, Missouri in the summer of 1939. Since that beginning, Rev. Call pastored in seven different Assemblies of God Churches; Pleasantville, Iowa; Elmer, Missouri; Russell, Kansas; Sterling, Colorado; Scottsbluff, Nebraska and Windsor, Colorado. The Church in Elmer, Missouri flourished under Rev. Call's leadership to a point the small church was bursting at the seams with an average attendance of over 150 people for Sunday Services in a community that had a population of just over 200 residents. Sterling, Colorado was Rev. Call's longest pastorate with his service there for 22 years. Again, the church flourished and grew under Rev. Call's leadership culminating in an evangelistic crusade with the Rev. David Wilkerson that attracted more than 4, 800 people from a community of a little more than 10, 000 population. During his pastorate at Sterling, Colorado, Rev. Call also became heavily involved in leadership with Rocky Mountain District of the Assemblies of God, serving numerous years as Northeast Section Presbyter and several years as one of two Executive Presbyters for the Rocky Mountain District. During his tenure, Rev. Call was active in leading the District to acquire and develop the Rocky Mountain District Campground at Cedaredge, Colorado. In between pastorates, Rev. Call and his wife held evangelistic revival crusades in 367 different Assemblies of God Churches with most of the crusades having daily morning and evening services and lasting for several weeks at a time. In between pastorates at Scottsbluff, Nebraska and Windsor, Colorado, Rev. and Mrs. Call redirected their ministerial focus to child evangelism, holding 197 "Kids Krusade" week long meetings in churches across the Western United States. Rev. Call also was guest speaker at numerous Family Camps, Ministerial Retreats and other church gatherings. The capstone of Rev. Call's ministry was in May of 2012 when he went back to Ridgeway, Missouri and preached one of his final messages to the congregation of the church that he and Rev. Hamilton had started 73 years earlier. Rev. Call will long be remembered as a man of intense faith, unfailing loyalty, personal discipline, empathy and compassion for human kind and a long and consistent daily prayer life. He will be missed by his family and friends. The viewing will be held at Bohlender Funeral Chapel, 121 W. Olive Street, Fort Collins, Colorado on Thursday, June 13, 2013 from 5-8 p.m. Funeral services will be Friday, June 14, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. at Timberline Church, 2908 South Timberline Road, Fort Collins, Colorado at 10:00am. Contributions may be sent to the James Call Memorial Fund in care of Bohlender Funeral Chapel, 121 W. Olive Fort Collins, Colorado 80524.