Remembrance

James "Jim" E. Renz, 94, died May 19 at Pinecrest retirement community in Mt. Morris, Ill. He was a former director of social welfare for the Church of the Brethren, and founder of the Renz Addiction Counseling Center in Elgin, Ill., which now serves thousands of people through treatment and prevention programs. The Daily Herald newspaper notes that when Renz started the center 52 years ago it was a one-man operation in a small office on the second floor of a downtown building. It was Renz hard work and dedication as a Church of the Brethren pastor with a lifelong commitment to service, that propelled the center to become one of the largest nonprofits that serve northern Kane and western Cook Counties of Illinois, said the newspaper. Renz was a pastor in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois before he moved to Elgin to serve on the denominational staff in 1952. Read the full article at www.dailyherald.com/article/20130529/news/705299653. A memorial service was held at Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren on June 2.