James Goings Obituary

James Arden Goings, 83, of Bartlesville, beloved husband and father, formerly from Springfield, Ohio, graduated from his temporary earthly home to his permanent home in Heaven on Monday, July 14th, 2025, with his family by his side. He was quite looking forward to joining his Heavenly Father after a short illness.
Jim was born and raised in Springfield, Ohio, along with all his siblings. His parents, Richard and Helen (Moore) Goings, have preceded him in death. He was the fifth of six children. The oldest was his brother Stanley (Shirley), Jeanne O'Brien (Jerry), Sondra McCain (Bill), Helen Yocum (Elwood), Jim and Pam Doyle (Richard).
After High School Jim joined the Air Force. This eventually brought him to Wisconsin where he met the love of his life, Dotty Brown. They married in August 1963 in Wisconsin, and he was honorably discharged in March 1964. Jim then attended The Ohio State University (Go Buckeyes!) where they were blessed with their first child, Mandy Hill in 1966 and blessed again with Eric Goings in 1969, both born in Columbus, Ohio. With his Engineering degree in hand, his business career began. (He later added a Masters in Management from University of Redlands while living in California.)
Jim and his family moved around a lot over the decades as he climbed the corporate ladder. He started in Springfield, Ohio, at International Harvester, then moved to St. Clairsville, Ohio, then onto Warren, Ohio, next to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, then to Placentia, California, where he joined the aerospace industry at McDonnel Douglas. The next move in aerospace was to San Diego County with Rohr Industries. Lifelong friends were made along the way in each of these cities and the whole family is richer for all these new friends.
Travel was a great passion for Jim and his entire family (immediate and extended). Visiting new places with those he loved was a passion for him. He also loved trying new foods, which his immediate family also enjoyed, but it was not quite as enjoyable for some of his extended family. In his last few years, he developed a new hobby of playing croquet on Saturday mornings with friends from church on the OKWU campus. He even played in a few annual tournaments down in Tulsa; not bad for a man in his 80's.
Another great passion of his was his family. In addition to family already mentioned, he also loved his three grandkids Tyler (Jen) Hill, Ryan (Lindsey) Hill, and Barbara Goings (Tristan) Wright and his only great-grandchild, Theo. There are also quite a few others out there that looked up to him as an honorary father/grandfather/brother.
Above all, Jim's greatest passion was for the Lord and the Lord's work. Over the decades he held many roles in churches, such as Youth Leader, Sunday School teacher, church board member, treasurer, choir member, and he started a charitable foundation to help those in need at a church he attended. In San Diego he took on the role of District Treasurer for the Pacific Southwest District of The Wesleyan Church for 23 years. He then stepped up to help Oklahoma Wesleyan University (OKWU) as the Chief Financial Officer for 7 years when they experienced a transitional period.
Jim will be remembered by so many for various reasons. Some will remember him for his passion for the End Times and the book he wrote about the subject. Others will remember him as a great Sunday School teacher. Quite a few have sought out his sound financial advice over the years. While others will remember him always slipping his testimony to any conversation happening. In his final days at the hospital, he managed to testify to each person that came into his room, his doctors, nurses, the hospice rep., even the hospital chaplain. He was ready to leave this world and meet Jesus and he wanted everyone he spoke with to know about his excitement. Above all he will be remembered as the world's best husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, and uncle. He was fiercely loved and will be greatly missed.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, August 2, 2025, at Bartlesville First Wesleyan Church with Pastor Joe Colaw officiating. Services are under the direction of Davis Family Funeral Home – Dewey Chapel, 113 S. Osage Ave., Dewey, OK 74029, 918-534-3030. Online condolences and remembrances may be shared at www.DavisFamilyFuneralHome.com.