Rev. James Lee Peeler

Rev. James Lee Peeler passed away peacefully on November 7, 2025, at the Hospice Home of High Point after a short illness. A devoted husband, father, grandfather, and friend, he will be remembered for his enduring faith and deep love for his family.

He was born in Granite Quarry on April 1, 1940, to Hoy Alexander Peeler and Lottie Maude Wilhelm Peeler. On August 26, 1962, a few months after graduating from Catawba College, he married Rebecca Carolyn Morgan of Gold Hill. They moved together to Lancaster, PA, where he attended Lancaster Theological Seminary. Soon after, James was ordained as a minister in the United Church of Christ. He devoted his life to serving churches across Davidson, Guilford, and Rowan counties.

James was a dedicated member of the Lions Club, which tied together his passions for both service and travel. He held officer positions in the Lexington, Salisbury, and Thomasville chapters and, in 1972, was one of NC's district governors. Lions Club conventions took him across the country, and, to get other local members to travel to these meetings with him, James began to coordinate bus trips. The success of those first trips to conventions, and the camaraderie of the group who traveled with him, led him to form Peeler Tours. He organized annual trips-with the same beloved bus driver-that took his friends and family to every state in the US except Hawaii, and to Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Alberta. The relationships he formed on those trips were incredibly dear to him. Through the Lions Club, he volunteered with a camp for blind children; in retirement, he volunteered at hospitals and, channeling his lifelong love of trains, on the Amtrak.

Despite his many commitments to his congregations, his children remember him joining their schools' parent-teacher associations and cheering at every track meet and basketball game. He attended every one of his granddaughter's concerts until she graduated from college.

Preceding him in death are his parents; sisters Mary Peeler Fortune, Katherine Peeler, Margaret Peeler Bratton, and Mary Alice (George) Troutman; brothers Ray Gerald Peeler, George Alexander (Mildred) Peeler, and Hoy Alexander Peeler, Jr.; and brothers-in-law Tommy Lawson Odell and Joe Lyerly. He is survived by his wife of sixty-three years, Carolyn, their two children, Rebecca Peeler Barbre and her husband Ray of Kinston, NC, and John Nathan Peeler of High Point, NC. He is also survived by one sister, Sue Lyerly, of Shallotte, NC; sister-in-law, Sally JoAnn Odell of Bahama, NC; and many nieces and nephews. James was the proud grandfather of Morgan Elizabeth Barbre of New Haven, CT.

A graveside service will be held on Saturday, November 15, at 1:00 pm at Shiloh Reformed Church Cemetery in Faith, 1051 Cemetery Drive, Salisbury, NC, after which the family will receive friends from 2:00-2:30 pm inside the church fellowship hall. The service will be performed by Rev. Glenn Myers of Wesley Memorial Methodist Church in High Point.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Greater High Point Food Alliance: 815 Phillips Ave, High Point, NC 27262, and Piedmont Hospice House, 1803 Westchester Drive, High Point, NC 27262.

Powles Staton Funeral Home is assisting the Peeler family. Online condolences may be made at www.powlesfuneralhome.com.