Jim was named after both our fathers - James Alexis Bage and James Harding Moseley. His middle name was taken from Della's mother's name - Therma Graham. He was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and we were as happy as any two proud parents ever were. He was a good baby and grew to be a pleasure to both our lives.
Jim worked hard as a youngster, working right alongside me at the dairy. When he was about nine, he had his own horse, Tarzan, and he would spend much of his time with Tarzan.
Jim attended Rock Creek Elementary School in Independence, Missouri, and Della became active in the Parent Teacher's Association there.
After elementary school he attended William Chrisman High School, and it was there that he became friends with a fellow classmate, Margaret Truman. He graduated from Chrisman in 1942, shortly before his 18th birthday.
World War II had already broken out and Jim was on his way to Park College in Parkville, Missouri. Jim was happy to be out on his own and we were happy that he wasn't too far that we couldn't visit when we wanted. He worked part time while going to school, and Della was available for relief work on the telegraph for the packing companies in town. She enjoyed getting out and earning some money on her own. I was working for Clara Harris and was out on the road traveling a good part of the time.
Jim left Park College to attend Texas Christian University in Texas. It was there that he started thinking about going into the ministry.
From TCU he went to Yale and graduated there in 1946. We were proud that our only child had been able to attend college, become such an excellent student, and graduate from a fine university. Our happiness was overwhelming and our lives were complete.
Jim had met Kitten the Christmas before graduation and it was fascination at first sight. Their infatuation grew into love and they were married on Jim's birthday, July 13, 1947.
After their marriage, they moved in with us, and we lived as one large family. That was what we all wanted, and we were all happy.
Jim's first church was in Gallatin, Missouri. From there he went to Higginsville, Missouri, and it was while there that their first child, Joyce, was born. Higginsville is only about 20 miles from Kansas City, and we attended his church whenever possible. After Higginsville, he became minister of the Blue Ridge Christian Church in Kansas City, Missouri, and we were thrilled at the prospect of having Jim and Kitten back home with us again.
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| 2100 Elm, Higginsville |
They moved into the house I built at 2640 Arlington and we were only two houses away. Kitten had a beauty shop put in the basement, and she was busy all day with her business. Jim was busy with the church and it seemed they had everything going for them.
Storm clouds began appearing, however, and we became aware that there was something wrong. Susan was born on September 14, 1954, and shortly after that, their marriage ended in divorce.
At the time of the divorce, the girls were given to Kitten, but Jim went back to court to try to get custody, and was successful. We were to raise the girls - Jim, Della and me. Although we missed the closeness we had shared with Jim and Kitten, we were happy to have him and the girls back home with us.
At the time of the divorce, the girls were given to Kitten, but Jim went back to court to try to get custody, and was successful. We were to raise the girls - Jim, Della and me. Although we missed the closeness we had shared with Jim and Kitten, we were happy to have him and the girls back home with us.
We converted the barn behind the house into an apartment, and Jim seemed content to live there. The girls lived with us, and we tried our best to give them a normal family life. The five of us spent a lot of time together, including vacations. Jim would spend vacations filming for his presentations, and we would all go together. We had some of the best times of our lives when we were together.
In 1960 Jim announced that he had met the girl of his dreams and they planned to be married. They had only known each other a very short time and had been introduced by a mutual friend. They couldn't wait to be married, and on June 1, 1960, they were wed (in Miami, Oklahoma). He moved out of his place here and moved into her apartment downtown. She was a Braniff stewardess and lived in a high rise apartment on Pennsylvania Avenue.
When Jim met Ella he was campaigning for Congressional District #4 from Missouri. She quit her job and went campaigning with him. They bought a house at 2911 Ashland Ridge only a few miles from us, and moved in on August 1, 1960 That day was also election day, and Jim lost the race.
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Jim was still preaching at Blue Ridge, campaigning during the week, when he married Ella. It was a bit of a shock to the congregation when he announced he had a wife, and things started to change somewhat. May 24, 1961, Ella gave birth to a son, James Eugene Moseley, named for Jim, and his middle name came from Ella's middle name, which was Eugenia. Jim was doing a lot of traveling for International Lectures and working on his sermons while on the road. He was always there on Sunday to preach, but the members wanted him there during the week. With a family to support, he didn't feel he could live on the church salary, and he enjoyed the traveling associated with the lecture business, so he resigned from the church. In 1962 he started a new career with Alexander Hamilton Company as a sales representative. He was a good salesman, and won awards from them repeatedly for top salesman in the company. He worked for them about ten years and left them because of health problems.
The next two years were spent working at part time jobs. He filled in occasionally for ministers on vacation, sold encyclopedias, and car alarms. He and Ella had discovered years ago that their marriage was not one that was made in paradise, and with his health deteriorating, this compounded the problem.
In May of 1976, Ella took Jimmy to her home town of Warrenton, near St. Louis, Missouri, for a family baptism. Jim was home alone and became ill. He called a good friend, Wren Johnson, and he called me. When we arrived an ambulance was called and he was taken to the hospital. Wren went with him, but I went back home because Della was sick in bed, and I couldn't leave her alone for very long.
The morning of May 16, I called Joyce in Oklahoma City to try to locate Ella. I told her that her dad had been taken to the hospital. I assured her that he would be alright, and there was no need for her to come home from Oklahoma. I called Ella and told her the circumstances, and she said she would come home. Before I left for the hospital, I received a call that Jim had passed away. The cause of death was heart attack, which was brought on by his diabetes. Susan was in Omaha, Ella could not be reached, and I called Joyce to tell her about her dad. It was a blackened day for all of us.
Note: So his "illness," was alcoholism. And the night he was taken to the hospital, he and Wren had been drinking together. I always remembered Grandpa had gotten to the hospital that next morning and heard the "code blue" as he stepped off the elevator, so he never got to be with Dad before he passed away. It makes sense, though, that he got the call that he had passed before he drove there, because the time between his first call to me and the second one was only about an hour.
Once I got the news that he had passed, we began packing to head back to KC. We had just been there the week before for Mother's Day. I was grateful we had all been together because we kept trying to get home and something always came up. This was our last time to be together, and we took a family picture.
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Before leaving OKC, I kept calling my mother to tell her. When I was about to give up, she finally answered. I remember crying almost all the way to Kansas City. We all met at Grandpa's house - Sue and Gary came in after we got there. Ella came there and then learned he had died. After that, we all went to Daddy's house, and I remember Sue and I going into his office. We hugged and cried. That was his room. It just didn't seem right that he wasn't there and wouldn't be coming back.
More on Higginsville from Joyce:
https://justjoyce2012.blogspot.com/search?q=higginsville
https://justjoyce2012.blogspot.com/search?q=higginsville
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