Rev James R. Hipkins, former missionary and pastor at Sibu Wesley Methodist Church, was born on July 13, 1927 and passed away on February 15, 2019 at the age of 91 in Asheville, North Carolina. He had suffered from Alzheimer's for seven years before his passing. 

Rev Hipkins was a native of Leipsic, Ohio. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and did his theological education at the School of Theology at Boston University. He served churches in the West Ohio Conference for 38 years and was the founding pastor of Church of the Saviour in Montgomery, Ohio. 

He and his wife, Charlotte, served as missionaries under the Methodist Board of Missions in Sarawak from 1964-70. They served in Singapore from 1970-72. They prepared for missionary service by learning Chinese at Yale University. They were on the faculty of the Methodist Theological School in Sibu. Charlotte was deeply involved in music and teaching. In Singapore Rev Hipkins served on the faculty of Trinity Theological College and assisted in Chinese congregations in various capacities.

Rev Hipkins served on the staff of the World Council of Churches for the Third Assembly held in New Delhi, India in 1961. He served in 1979-1980 as the executive secretary of the American Friends Service Committee for the Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky region with his office in Dayton, Ohio.

During his service in the West Ohio Conference, he had pastorates in Willshire, Cincinnati, Dayton, Zanesville and Toledo, Ohio. He also served on a number of conference committees and boards.

He retired in 1991 and he and Charlotte moved to Tennessee where they lived until they moved to Massillon in 2000 to be closer to their family. James and Charlotte have two children, Jill Hipkins Pond of Massillon, and Thomas Hipkins of Rancho Santa Fe, California. They have five grandchildren.