James Kenneth Wright

James Kenneth Wright was born in Atlanta, Georgia on August 10, 1947. He grew up in Decatur and graduated from Decatur High School in 1965, then earned his bachelor's degree in psychology at Georgia State College in 1969. During college, he worked at the Southern Baptist
Home Mission Board on the Home Missions magazine. He worked as a summer missionary in Hawaii and later, through the US-2 program, as a pastor in Flushing, Queens. He married Susan Lockwood in 1970, and they were in ministry together in Flushing. Jim attended seminary
while in New York and was influenced profoundly by Clarence Jordan and the Koinonia Farm, a community that sought to address racial segregation. Jim was a lifelong proponent of social justice, particularly as it related to politics and his Christian faith.
During their marriage, Jim and Susan had two sons and Jim turned from pastoral work to photography, working on staff at the Orlando Sentinal, the Gainesville Sun, the Tallahassee Democrat, and the Louisville Times, where he was photo editor. They moved to Chicago in
1980, and Jim began a freelance career. They divorced in 1988. Jim continued to take photos for universities and corporations in the Midwest. He married Vinita Hampton in 1991, and they lived in Chicago for 30 years. Eventually, Jim worked full-time for the Illinois Medical District as
photographer and graphic designer. Upon taking early retirement, Jim continued to broaden his artistic skills, exhibiting photos at
galleries in Kenosha, WI, and Chicago. He and Vinita moved to Springdale, AR, in 2020, and Jim joined the Art Ventures gallery in Fayetteville and in recent months joined the ARtdeCentrale gallery in Springdale, where a retrospective exhibit of his 50 years as a
photographer was celebrated in January 2025.
Jim was active in faith communities most of his life; he and Vinita belonged to St. Paul and the Redeemer Episcopal Church in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood for many years, and they have been members of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Springdale since 2021. In recent years,
they have enjoyed trips together to Morocco, Greece, Turkey, the Holy Land, and countries in Western Europe. Jim was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2024. He died of heart failure at Washington Regional Medical Center on February 18, 2025.
Jim is survived by his wife, Vinita Hampton Wright; sons, Nathan Wright and Joshua Wright; grandchildren, Alexis, Gabriel, Dakota, and
Quinn; his brother, Robert Wright; sister, Nancy Kulb; nieces and nephews and their children.
Visitation will be held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, (2898 S. 48 th St., Springdale) on Friday, February 28 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. followed by the funeral service on Saturday, March 1 at 10:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Alzheimer's Association or the
American Heart Association