The Rev. Jim ‘Jay’ Phelps Jr.

Published 11:07 am Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The Rev. Jim “Jay” Phelps Jr. of Bowling Green died Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012, at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville.

He was born Aug. 12, 1938, in Edmonson County. He was an ordained bishop in the Church of God. He retired from Fruit of the Loom and was working at Bowling Green City Schools. He was a member of North Bowling Green Church of God and also attended Plano Chapel. He was the son of the late Jim Phelps Sr. and Lona Jane Higgs Phelps. He was also preceded in death by a daughter, Deborah Alaine Cline; grandchildren, Louis Britt, Laura Britt and Isabelle Phelps; a sister, Earline Cooper; and a brother, Billy Ray Phelps.

Survivors include his wife of 41 years, Viola May Phelps of Bowling Green; four sons, Jimmy Phelps and his wife, Vanessa, Timmy Britt and his wife, Kim, and Roger Phelps and his wife, Miranda, all of Bowling Green, and R. Jay Phelps and his wife, Melony, of New Johnsonville, Tenn.; daughters, Tammy Sue Cowles of Bowling Green and Nicole Rene Crump of Louisville; a brother, Tommy Phelps and his wife, Jean, of Cool Springs, Tenn.; his grandchildren, Jimmy Ray, Timothy, Josh, Matthew, Amber, Justin, Jacob Kyle, Jacob Jay, Grant, Randy, Travis, MacKenzie, Hunter, Kimberly and Jessie; nine great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, cousins, sisters and brothers-in-law.

A celebration of his life will be 1 p.m. Thursday at the J.C. Kirby and Son Lovers Lane Chapel. Friends may visit with the family from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. today, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday and after 10 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Bowling Green Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Plano Chapel Missions Fund in memory of Jay Phelps are appreciated.