Retired global personnel Jim Sedore, the first Covenanter sent Mongolia, passed on June 29, 2026, at home in Washington. He was 74.
James Morgan Sedore was born July 5, 1951 to parents John and Ruth Sedore in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was the youngest of three children, until his parents adopted Dan, one of many foster children they welcomed into their home. When Jim was eight, the family moved to Chicago. His imagination caught fire at sixteen, when a Boy Scout Jamboree took him to the forests of the Pacific Northwest for the first time. He followed that pull to the University of Idaho, where he earned a Bachelor of Science and — while managing campus landscaping — went on to complete a Master’s degree in Plant Sciences.
In 1981, Jim married Elizabeth Palma Richmond. Together they raised one daughter, Raina, who was homeschooled and went on to become a librarian — a fact Jim never tired of mentioning with pride.
In 1975, Jim joined the Washington State Department of Natural Resources as forest nursery manager, overseeing the cultivation of 1.5 million native seedlings each year. Referring to its famous eruption, Jim loved to say, “I grew trees to reforest Mt. St. Helens… twice!” In 1985 he moved into the DNR’s Human Resources division, serving as Safety and Health Manager until his retirement in 2008 after 33 years. All the while, trees and land remained a constant love — in later life he served on the Tumwater Tree Board and the Morningside Board, and spent untold hours in the garden.
From 1995 to 2006, Jim and Liz participated in short-term mission trips to Mexico, Alaska, and Mongolia. At retirement, they answered a longer call. In 2008, they moved to Ulaanbaatar as the Evangelical Covenant Church’s first global personnel sent to Mongolia. There, Jim was recruited by Joint Christian Services to serve as New Venture and Strategy Director, a role he held through 2014.
Jim was a man defined by curiosity, generosity, and quiet faithfulness. Wonderings, questions, and ideas were unending in his mind. He was a natural leader and an incessant learner who remained a teacher until his very last days — still passing along what he knew to whoever was nearby.
On February 14, 2026, Jim was diagnosed with a 7cm glioblastoma brain tumor and given three to four months to live. He and his family chose not to pursue treatment. On hospice at home, he remained largely symptom-free until his final month, and on June 29 he died peacefully in his sleep.
Jim is survived by his wife, Elizabeth (Liz) Sedore; his daughter, Raina; his brother, John Erie Sedore; his sister, Betty Jean; and his brother, Dan.
A memorial service will be held at Grace Community Covenant Church in Olympia, Washington on Saturday, August 1, at 1:00 p.m. Pacific. The service will be livestreamed on Grace CCC’s YouTube channel.
Peace be to his memory.
