Jim Harper – Vestry Member: Communications & Evangelism

Janet & I were married at the Cathedral Church of St. John, Albuquerque, in January 1955, shortly after joining the Episcopal Church. Janet had been a Roman Catholic and I was raised Methodist.
We both grew up in Albuquerque, and I received a BS EE degree from UNM. We left Albuquerque for three years in the Air Force (all at Montauk, Long Island, NY – join the Air Force and see the World!), followed by ten years in California. We helped start an Episcopal mission church in Westminster, CA – stumbling around on the Bishop’s Committee, Treasurer, and Senior Warden. We returned to Albuquerque in 1968, where I worked for Sparton Technology, Inc. for 31 years, with positions of Project Engineer, Program Manager, and Director of Defense Programs. When peace broke out after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the company downsized and I inherited Contracts and Purchasing as well.
We attended St. Matthew’s until the merger with St. Aidan’s and became St. Mary’s. I served on the Vestry at both churches, was a Lay Reader/Chalice Bearer, until I became legally blind from Macular Degeneration in 1999. I am a member of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. I served on the Outreach Committee from the start of St. Mary’s until 2007. Outside the church I have been a member of the Blinded Veterans Association, serving as Convention Chairman for the National Convention, held in Albuquerque in 2006. I have served on the State Rehabilitation Council for the NM Commission for the Blind since 2001, and volunteered for the Long Term Care Ombudsman program for the State Agenc on Ageing, I volunteered at the Alzheimer’s Association of NM for a number of years.
I have developed a recent interest in working through a non-profit organization, Kiva.org, to encourage micro-loans directly to those living in poverty in many lesser developed countries. They have the creativity and initiative to start, sustain and grow their own business, but are not considered credit worthy by traditional financial institutions.