James Calvin Walters

James Calvin Walters, 84, died peacefully at his home in Silver Spring, Md., on January 11, 2022, with son, Kirk and daughter-in-law, Randi at his side. Jim was born in Hershey, Pa., on October 18, 1937, to Russell and Ruby Walters, the third of their six children. After high school, he worked in Ed Hostetter's clothing store in Palmyra before enrolling at the Philadelphia College of Bible. He went on to attend Dallas Theological Seminary, where he reported to several slack-jawed friends one day that Lynda Springfield had said yes to his invitations both to a stage production of The Sound of Music and to the Founder's Day Ball! They married in 1964, and remained smitten with each other to the day Lynda died of complications from multiple sclerosis in 2012. After pastoring a church in Connecticut, where their son Scott was born, they moved to Lynda's hometown of Siloam Springs, Ark., where Kirk was born. At John Brown University he influenced thousands of students as professor of Biblical Studies for more than 40 years. But it was his life with Lynda, through more than three decades of MS, that communicated the redeeming power of love even more profoundly than anything he taught in a classroom. He rolled her chair, or conscripted others to help haul it, upstairs and over lawns, into restaurants, plays, concerts, ball games, and classrooms, where somehow a space was always made for them. Over the years, perfect strangers would reach out to express how witnessing their love changed them indelibly. Just as palpable was Jim and Lynda's delight in their four grandchildren, Alden, Maia, Kate, and Ellie, who spent many a summer day on the sputtering go kart he'd somehow kept running since his sons were boys, and they relished excursions to the taqueria or the Wooden Spoon, with cones of frozen yogurt promised afterward. Jim is survived by son Scott, and his wife, Ardelle, of Memphis, Tenn.; son, Kirk, and his wife, Randi, of University Park, Md.; grandchildren, Alden, Maia, Kate, and Ellie; sisters, Rose Blessing (Richard) and Lynda Walters Mears; as well as many beloved nieces and nephews. Jim was preceded in death by Lynda, his wife of 47 years; parents, Russell and Ruby Walters; and brothers, Russell, John, and Fred Walters. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Dr. Jim and Lynda Walters Endowed Scholarship fund at John Brown University, 2000 W. University, Siloam Springs, Ark. 72761; or the New Life Ranch Camper Scholarship Fund, 160 New Life Ranch Drive, Colcord, Okla. 74338. A funeral service will be held at the Cathedral of the Ozarks on the John Brown University campus at 2 p.m., on January 16. Masks will be required. The service can be viewed via livestream at https://youtu.be/BWlrlqgkPvw. Private interment at Oak Hill Cemetery will follow. Jim's family extends their thanks to the good people of Sunrise Senior Living of Silver Spring, Md.