Raymond Stumpf

Missionary, pastor, counselor.

Raymond Stumpf, son of the late Nelson and Charlotte Stumpf, passed away peacefully on October 10, 2017 at the age of 94.  He was born on November 17, 1922 in Williamsville, New York, the youngest of four children.  Following high school, he attended engine mechanic school, then served in the Army Air Corp during World War II as an aerial engineer on a C-46 cargo plane in the Pacific theater.  While in the service he attended Glendale Alliance Church in California where he met Rachel Ann Bodenhausen; they were married before he went overseas.

Following his three years in the Air Corp, Raymond studied at Simpson Bible Institute in Seattle, Washington, (now Simpson University) in preparation for full time Christian service.  In 1950 he and Rachel, with their 20-month-old son, went to Japan to begin missionary work in Hiroshima, Japan.  Raymond’s ministry included sixteen years of teaching in the Alliance Bible School.  He was also involved in prison ministry, evangelism, church planting, and developing a Christian camp.

He spent a total of twenty-five years in missionary service, interrupted by a two-year stint as pastor of the Neighborhood Alliance Church in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1964-66.  In 1977, Raymond accepted the pastorate of Kapahulu Bible Church in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he and Rachel served for three years.  Following this, he took a position on staff at Toccoa Falls College where he worked until his retirement in 2001.  He continued to be involved in the life of First Alliance Church where he was a member, teaching adult Bible classes and working on the yearly mission conferences as long as his health permitted.  He was also active in marriage counseling and spiritual deliverance ministry. 

His faith was the central and most important thing in his life.  Despite the impact of Alzheimer’s Disease on his mind and body in his final years, he faithfully attended church every Sunday until one week before his death.

Raymond was predeceased by his son Ronald in 1985 and his wife Rachel in 2008 and by his three sisters.  He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Sharon and Jim Morden, their daughter Jennifer (all of Toccoa, Georgia) and their daughter Laura and her husband Matthew Miller (of Duluth, Georgia), also by his daughter-in-law Bonita Mae Julius and her daughter Heather, Heather’s husband Rocky Linn and their three children, Isabella, Mason and Levi (all of Minnesota).

A memorial service celebrating his life will be held at First Alliance Church of Toccoa, November 4, at 11:00.  Visitation will precede the service starting at 10:15.

This announcement is courtesy of Acree-Davis Funeral Home.