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Fr. James Mathias Stump OFM Cap was born in Colwich, Kansas, on December 8, 1938, the son of John Theodore Stump and Frances Helen Dold and brother of Quintin, Donald, Paul, Vera Mae, Juanita Jane, and Mary Kay. He graduated from Andale High School in 1957.
In 1964, he received a BA degree in Business Administration from Wichita State University. In 1970, he received his doctorate in Law from the Washburn School of Law. He served in the United States Army Reserves from 1956-1964. Before going to school, he worked on his family's farm milking cows. He then managed the accounting department at Farmers and Bankers Life Insurance Company and worked as a law clerk.
He entered the Capuchin Order on August 15, 1982, at San Lorenzo Seminary in Santa Ynez, CA, and was ordained a Catholic priest on August 27, 1988, at St. Mark Church, Colwich, Kansas.
After ordination, he was assigned as associate pastor at St. Lawrence of Brindisi Church in Los Angeles, CA. In 1989, he was assigned as associate pastor at Our Lady of Angels Church, Burlingame, CA. In 1992 he was Novice Master at San Lorenzo Novitiate in Santa Ynez, CA. In 1993, he was Chaplain at Community Hospital in Fresno, CA; in 1997, Chaplain at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, CA; and in 2002, he was Chaplain at the Palo Alto VA Health Care System.
From 2019 to the present he was associate pastor at Our Lady of Angels Church, Burlingame, CA. After a trip to Indonesia to visit friends, he became very ill with a severe infection and never fully recovered from complications. He peacefully died at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, CA, on April 21, 2024.
As a Capuchin friar for 42 years and as a priest for 36 years Fr. James treated everyone with great kindness and respect and welcomed all with an open heart. He was a wonderful, compassionate confessor. He loved all of God's creatures, especially dogs. He was a very humble and unassuming friar with a great sense of humor. He loved sports. He was always very pastoral and served the sick with great tenderness and compassion as a wonderful chaplain. He also loved parish ministry and gave himself wholeheartedly to serving God's people.
He is survived by his dear brothers Don and Paul, his sister Mary Kay, and several nephews and nieces.
Fr. James' funeral arrangements are as follows: The Rosary will be Wednesday, May 1, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Angels Church, Burlingame, CA. The Funeral Mass will be on Thursday, May 2, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. also at Our Lady of Angels Church.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 3, 2024, at Old Mission Santa Ines in Solvang. Burial is at San Lorenzo Friary, 1802 Sky Drive in Santa Ynez, CA.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in memory of Fr. James to the Capuchin Franciscan Order, 1345 Cortez Avenue, Burlingame, CA 94010.
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