Reuben Gums

Rev. Reuben (Ben) Gums (October 16, 1927-October 11, 2017) Reuben Gums, age 89, passed away peacefully on October 11, 2017 at the Jamestown Regional Medical Center. He was born October 16, 1927 at Cleveland, ND, to Fred and Katherine (Vossler) Gums. He attended Jamestown Public Schools and graduated from high school in 1945. While in high school and college, he worked at radio station KSJB as an announcer and programmer. He attended Jamestown College 1945-47 and graduated from North Central College, Naperville, Illinois, with a B.A. in speech and religious education. Ben worked in the Psychology Department and various other jobs, while going to school. He founded the campus radio station at North Central, which is still in operation.

In 1952 he graduated from Evangelical Theological Seminary, also in Naperville with a Master of Divinity degree. In 1959 he earned the Master of Sacred Theology degree from Union Theological Seminary, New York City. Reuben served a church in Kulm, ND for one year, followed by an assignment by the Evangelical United Brethren Church to serve as Director of Radio-Audiovisual Commission of the Philippine Federation of Christian Churches. It was in the Philippines where he met Frances Lorene Seifert, of Vernon, NY. They were married on March 9, 1956 in Manila. Frances was serving a three-year term for the Methodist Church’s Division of World Missions and E.U.B. Division of World Missions. While in the Philippines, Reuben worked for the U.S. Air Force part-time as a Civilian Auxiliary Chaplain and a “supply” preacher at other military installations in the Philippines. Returning to the U.S., Reuben enrolled in Union Theological Seminary, and Frances studied voice at Julliard School of Music. Following their studies in New York, they moved to Chicago where Reuben accepted a position as Director of Radio and Television for The Church Federation of Greater Chicago. They lived in Chicago from 1959-1968 and then moved back to New York City. He worked as Director of Radio and Television of the Council of Churches of the City of New York. When his wife passed away in 1970, Reuben continued to live and work in NYC. Before moving to ND in 2004 to retire, he developed Tri-State Media Ministry, serving all churches in the metropolitan area, he was Executive Director for the Laymen’s National Bible Committee, which organizes National Bible Week, and had his own public service radio program each Sunday morning on WYNY, which he continued for a short time, remotely, after returning to Jamestown. He served on the Board of Governors of the National Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. Reuben was active in the United Methodist Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew in Manhattan, and St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Jamestown. He was active in the Democratic Party and served as a delegate to the national democratic convention in North Carolina in 2012. Reuben enjoyed gardening, visiting, dinners with family and friends, theater, and concerts.

He is survived by two brothers, Ervin (Nora) Gums, Jamestown; and Lloyd (Millie) Gums, Lodi, CA. Sisters-in-law Laura Wells, Vernon, NY; Eleanore Lamanque, Clinton, NY; brothers-in-law, Lawrence (Lillian)Seifert, Oneida, NY; George Seifert, Vernon, NY; and several nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews. He is preceded in death by his wife; his parents; his father and mother-in-law, Clarence and Evelyn (Lawrence) Seifert; two brothers Fred, Jr. and Harold, three sisters, Leah Fuehrer, Helen Powers, and Edna Weispfenning, two sisters-in-law, Violet Robinson and Sharon Clark, and two brothers-in-law, Verne Seifert and Milton Seifert.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, October 18, 2017, at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Jamestown, ND with Rev. Joel Winckler officiating. Visitation will be held at Eddy Funeral Home on Tuesday, October 17, 2017, from 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM with a prayer service at 7:00 PM. Burial will be in Highland Home Cemetery, Jamestown, ND.

Online guestbook: www.eddyfuneralhome.com

To send a flower arrangement or to plant trees in memory of Reuben Gums , please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.