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James Smitherman Obituary

Brought to you by Wade Family Funeral Home

James Smitherman

Arlington, TX

June 7, 1971 - November 15, 2016

James Smitherman Obituary

James Andrew Smitherman aka Smitty, Jim, Jimmy, Jamie, Uncle Gig, Uncle Idge, Titi, to his family and friends, was a native El Pasoan. Born to the brave and hard-working Okinawan mother, Yaeko, he grew up in a home with 10 children. Like any young boy he had aspirations to become a superhero and could often be found wearing his cape (a towel tied around his neck) just waiting for his superpowers to kick in. Growing up half Japanese was difficult as they were not accepted by the Asian group or Caucasians, which made him and his brother Sam close and protective of one another. In high school this came in handy as he became the body guard to his good friend Dan, who paid him in soda and candy. James went on to be a running back on his football team, an accomplished trombonist, and a graduate of Andress High School’s class of ’89. James received a scholarship to the University of Texas El Paso to study music but unfortunately had to drop out to work. He worked at several local restaurants until in 1995, while working at Pizza Hut, he met his now wife Cynthia. There is still some discussion about how they ended up together. James always claimed that Cynthia asked him out, but she would deny that, saying he was the one who asked her out under the pretense of helping him find a Mother’s Day gift. I guess we won’t know the truth until we can rewind time and see the video. So began the journey for James, whose aspirations of owning a business and becoming a millionaire caused him to work as a casino banker counting cards at Black Jack tables. Soon he launched JAS Enterprises and bought into the whole get rich quick scheme, selling lifetime reminder services for fund raising, knife sets, vacuum cleaners. He also tried his hand at sewing stuffed bunny rabbits. Talk to Cynthia about these she’ll tell you that these things don’t work!! Later he attended massage school and became vegetarian and even let his hair grow out like a hippie. When Cynthia graduated from college his childhood friends Dan and Gabe invited them to move to Dallas and work at their company, earning $10.00 per hour installing structured data cable (this was a fortune to James). After a few years James decided it was time to go back to school and he attended and graduated from DeVry University in August 2004 with a degree in Network and Communication Management. Upon graduation, he and Cynthia finally decided to get married (it was a long engagement) and that is how they met Joe and began attending Crossroads of Arlington Church. James was excited to begin his career and obtained a job installing phone systems in prisons. He had big plans to climb the corporate ladder and become manager or vice president in five years and earn big bucks. Little did he know God had different plans for him. While attending church at Crossroads he and Cynthia served in any capacity they could, putting away the chairs, cooking meals, working in the children’s ministry. Anywhere there was a need James was more than willing to meet that need. James was baptized at CR. Two years later James tore a disk in his back which led him down a road of brokenness and discovery. He experienced pain from his injury, loss of his job, became diabetic after multiple steroid injections, and struggled with depression and anger at the inability to provide for his family. It was in late 2006 that Enoc, Cynthia’s youngest brother came to live with them. Although he had Down’s Syndrome and you would expect he needed care, it was Enoc who took care of James, making sure he took his meds, reminding him not to eat bread and candy, massaging his back, and praying for him constantly. It wasn’t until James finally accepted that this was what God had for him that he finally began to blossom. He often compared himself to Paul asking God to remove the thorn from his side, and rather than being healed, he was reminded that God’s grace is sufficient. On difficult days when he experienced pain or could not get out of bed he would say “This is a new day and I am joyful in the Lord”. To Cynthia’s surprise he became more open and transparent about his struggles, sharing prayer requests with members of their Home Group and Men’s Accountability Group. To Cynthia’s surprise he spent countless hours reading the Bible and learned many verses and would finally pray out loud and very well. He had become a spiritual leader in their home. As his health improved, he slowly was able to take on some of the housework responsibilities: cooking, cleaning, paying the bills, etc. and do some consulting work as well, designing websites and setting up networks for small companies. It was at the end of a Sunday Service that the worship leader indicated the need for a bass player. James expressed an interest in auditioning even though he didn’t play or own a bass. A friend of him who owed him some money offered to pay him with a bass (totally a God thing). He quickly began to practice on his own and to everyone’s surprise made it into the worship band. He also learned to play the guitar and started taking voice lessons. Slowly he was able to take on more and more responsibility in the church, helping lead worship during the Tuesday Prayer Meetings, recruiting and working with members of the worship band. He then transitioned to the Media Team, restructuring the sound system and working with volunteers to teach them how to improve our Sunday worship experience. James was gifted in that he liked being around people and was constantly mentoring others. He was a funny man, a silly man, and could hardly ever take a serious picture. He was a family man, enjoying spending time with his extended family at holidays, birthdays and special occasions. His favorite thing to do was to look inside your refrigerator. He was a hobby kind of guy whose answer whose answer to the question “How did you learn to do that” was “I read it in a book”. He was able to see the best in people and nurture and develop them so the person could blossom in things they didn’t know they could do. As you know, James died from a yet unidentified brain mass. He received some of the best care in his last days and died peacefully on November 15th at 6:20am, surrounded by his family. He will be missed greatly, but we know that we can rejoice because we know that in Christ we have the assurance of an eternal life with Him. While we mourn his absence from our lives, we know that we will join him one day in glory. Wade Family Funeral Home (817) 274-9233

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Event information can be found on the Official Obituary of James Smitherman.