James R. Wieland, 93, went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Friday, February 28, 2025. Born in Louisville, KY on April 24, 1931 and raised in Lexington, KY from the age of 2, Jim was the son of the late Oscar A. Wieland and Martha Evelyn Carmack Wieland. He was predeceased by his wife of 54 years, Clara Es-Stel Yates Wieland. He was graduated from Lafayette High School where he started as a guard on the 1950 Sweet 16 Basketball Championship team and the 1949 Sweet 16 Basketball Runner Up team. He made the All-Tournament Team both years. He also lettered in baseball. Jim then attended the University of Kentucky and played freshman basketball on scholarship for the Wildcats until Baylor University also offered him a full scholarship. There, he was a member and an officer for the Baylor Chamber of Commerce, the service group that cared for the actual Baylor bear. He earned his Bachelor of Science from Baylor in 1955 and then entered military service with the U.S. Army, deploying to Camp Zama in Japan. Upon his return home, Jim joined his father's business, Plumbers Supply Company. He and Clara Es-Stel married on March 20, 1964 and had two children. He took over operations at Plumbers Supply with two partners in 1968 after his father's death but eventually became its sole proprietor, building a career of almost 30 years as a small business owner. At age 55, he sold the company to Ferguson, which continues to operate in the same location today. Throughout his life, Jim enjoyed playing basketball. After college, while a player/manager for the U.S. Army's team at Camp Zama he was a part of two U.S. Army All Japan championship teams and two All Far East U.S. Army runner up teams. He also played on the Lexington YMCA team that won the National YMCA Basketball Tournament in 1961. The previous year, he had played in the same tournament and was selected to the National YMCA All America Team. Later, he took up golf and enjoyed playing at the Lexington Country Club as well as in local pro-am charity tournaments for many years. In 1970, he became a founding parent of the Community Montessori School. He served as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of The Mary E. Wharton Nature Sanctuary (now Floracliff Nature Sanctuary) and dedicated 29 years to serving on both the Kentucky Baptist Healthcare Systems Board and the Board of Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce from 1979 to 1982. A man of strong and steadfast faith, Jim was a member of Immanuel Baptist Church where he coached middle school boys' basketball in the 1980s and regularly attended the men's Sunday School class led by his friend Dan Brock. He served as a Trustee for Immanuel and was on the church's Finance Committee. He delighted in seeing friends at the high school reunion meals he organized and at his longtime regular "Lunch with the Bills." He was blessed to have had so many of his peers to spend time with, especially his weekly dinner crew at Suggins and his childhood friend Marjorie "Dodgie" Polites. All the wait staff and management took good care of him at BJ's Restaurant. Jim dearly loved his family and always enjoyed telling a good story. He relished watching all kinds of sports and could remember specific statistics and details of games long past. He believed in helping those in need and organized a college scholarship for student-athletes at Lafayette honoring his high school basketball coach, Ralph Carlisle. In addition, he and his wife endowed two scholarships at Baylor University, one for student-athletes and one for students in environmental studies. Jim is survived by his children, Kristan Wieland Curry and Yates Wieland, daughter-in-law Crystal Wieland, and his grandchildren, Joshua and Caroline Curry and Carissa Ward and Kenidi Wieland. Visitation will be Friday, Mar. 21, 2025, 12 p.m. followed by a Celebration of Life Service at 1 p.m. in the Chapel at Immanuel Baptist Church, 3100 Tates Creek Road, followed by a reception. The family would like to thank all the caregivers who provided assistance, including Aneesah Dennis and Cheryl Hatfield, everyone at The Willows at Hamburg and the nursing staff on 5 North at Baptist Health. Please consider honoring Jim by helping those in need with a donation to Shriners Children's Lexington, Philanthropy Department, 110 Conn Terrace, Lexington, KY 40508 (or, go to www.shrinerschildrens.org/en/locations/lexington/about-us/ways-to-give ) or to the YMCA of Central Kentucky, ATTN: Philanthropy, 381 W. Loudon Avenue, Lexington, KY 40508 (or, go to www.ymcacky.org/give). Or donate to your church, a veterans organization or the charity of your choice. www.milwardfuneral.com