March 2017
Dr. W. James Kirchhoff, a commissioned minister in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) since 1957 and district education executive for 23 years, was called to glory on March 1 after a long illness. He was 81.
A memorial service celebrating the life of Jim Kirchhoff will be held on Saturday, March 18, 2017, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1101 Kimberly Way, in Lisle, Illinois. The service begins at 1 p.m. Visitation with the family and light refreshments will follow in the cafe at Trinity. A family funeral service and interment were held in Naperville, Illinois, on March 4.
Jim Kirchhoff was born in Indianapolis and earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Concordia Teachers College, River Forest, Illinois, in 1957. He earned his master’s in education at the University of Chicago in 1965 and a doctorate in education at Northern Illinois University in 1976. He was teacher and organist at Christ English Lutheran Church, Chicago, 1957-1959; teacher, principal and organist at Hope Lutheran Church, Park Forest, Illinois, 1959-1969; and principal and organist at Bethany Lutheran Church, Naperville, Illinois, 1969-1979.
In 1979 he accepted the call to serve as education executive for the LCMS Northern Illinois District and served under three district presidents (Edmund Happel, Theodore Laesch and William Ameiss). He remained in that position until his retirement in 2002.
During that time, he also was a member of the LCMS President’s Commission on Higher Education, 1983-1986; chairman of the LCMS Commission on Ministerial Growth, 1992-1995; chairman of the Illinois Advisory Commission on Non-Public Schools, 1987-1989 and 1993-1996; chairman of the corporate board for the independent Grace Lutheran School in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood and also occasional visiting professor at Concordia-River Forest.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Loretta, and children Karen, John and Lisa and their families as well as other family and friends.