Funeral services for Dr. James Frederick Jim Lovell, 80 year-old Weatherford resident will be Saturday, February 28th, at 10:00 a.m. at the Weatherford First United Methodist Church with Rev. Lynn Brack officiating, under the direction of Lockstone Funeral Home of Weatherford. Graveside services will be held at the Oak View Cemetery near Lovell, Oklahoma. Family and friends are invited to a visitation at Lockstone Funeral Home from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Friday, February 27, 2015.

Jim was born June 9, 1934 to James W. and Ruth (Newbold) Lovell at the family farm near Lovell, Oklahoma (Logan County) and passed away February 25, 2015 at the Corn Heritage Village of Weatherford.

Jim married Janis Crall on May 30th, 1954 in the First United Methodist Church of Weatherford.

Jim graduated from Marshall (Oklahoma) High School and attended Oklahoma State University where he was a member of Farmhouse Fraternity and where he earned the B.S. Degree (Animal Husbandry/Agriculture Education) and the M.S. Degree (Agriculture Education/Biology). He earned the Ph.D. from Kansas State University (Plant Ecology).

Jim was a Medical Corpsman in the U.S. Army, serving six months on active duty and six years in the U.S.Army Reserves.

He taught Vocational Agriculture at Hardesty, Oklahoma and was Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Slippery Rock State University (Pennsylvania). He came to Southwestern Oklahoma State University as Associate Professor and was promoted to Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences where he served for 13 years. During his leadership at Southwestern he hired fourteen new faculty members and provided leadership for establishing the Nursing, Health Care Administration, and Health Information Management programs. Also, while at Southwestern he served in the volunteer positions of Executive Secretary of the Oklahoma Academy of Sciences and was appointed by the governor to be Chair of the State of Oklahoma Pollution Control Board.

After leaving Southwestern, Jim served as Coordinator of Accreditation of Allied Health Programs for the American Medical Association in Chicago. He then served as Assistant Dean of the (new) School of Allied Health at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center. He was Dean of the Graduate School at Emporia State University (Kansas) and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Southern Arkansas University Magnolia. He returned to Oklahoma to finish his career as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Interim President of Northeastern Oklahoma State College Miami, retiring in 1998 back to the family farm north of Weatherford, Oklahoma.

He was a member of the Rotary Club and the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce until the onset of Alzheimers. He was a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International and received the Hall of Fame Award of the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce. During his career Jim was also an active member of many professional organizations that represented his profession.

During his retirement years he provided leadership for the building of the Pioneer Monument that was dedicated to the first settlers of his hometown of Lovell, Oklahoma, the establishment of the Frontier Country Museum in Crescent, Oklahoma, and the Heartland Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma. He was also a faithful member of the Weatherford First United Methodist Church and the Neonate Sunday School Class.

Jim is survived by his wife of 60 years, Janis Crall Lovell of Weatherford; his step-mother Ora Lee Lovell of Orlando, Oklahoma; one sister Patricia Ruth Marion of Wichita, Kansas (and her six children); four children: Ralph James Lovell and wife Debbie of Katy, Texas; Randall Anderson Lovell and wife Susan of Martinsburg, West Virginia; Rhonda Kay Lovell Yearian and husband Will of Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Diana Ruth Lovell Osburn and husband Wes of Caldwell, Texas; 10 grandchildren: Sarah Lovell (Nagy) Soliman, Rebecca Lovell (Alex) Campos, Celia Slayden (Jared) Roe, Amy Lovell (Charlie) Gremillion, Carly Slayden (fianc Kevin Carbine), Stephen Lovell, Tim (Tiffany) Lovell, Wes Lovell, Josh Martin, Elizabeth Martin; great-grandson Noah Robert Lovell; and step-granddaughters Lauren Yearian, Amy (fianc Mikah Miesch) Osburn, Macy Osburn, and step-great-granddaughter, Raychelle Osburn.

He is also survived by his aunt Eunice Newbold Clark, as well as his brother-in-law Lamar (Opal) Crall, and sister-in-law Jewrell Crall (and their two sons).

Jim was preceded in death by his parents and stepfather, Willard Anderson, and two infant siblings, Larry David Lovell and Sheryl Lynn Anderson.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Heartland Museum of Weatherford, the Frontier Country Museum in Crescent, or to the First United Methodist Church of Weatherford.