MacKellar, Rev. James MarshThe Rev. James Marsh MacKellar, 85, of Lake Road, Newport Center, Vermont, died on March 24th. He was born on June 23, 1931, in Wilkes-Barre, PA, son of Anita Cornelius MacKellar and Gordon MacKellar, who was the Road and Bridge Engineer for Luzerne County. After his father took a series of employments in the New York City area, the family moved to River Edge, NJ, and James graduated from Hackensack High School. He earned a Bachelor ofArts degree with a major in Philosophy from Cornell University, followed by a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. While he was at Cornell he first met Eugenia Orthey who survives him, and they were married on August 20, 1955. They have three children, Ian MacKellar (Rebecca), a veterinarian of Canton, NY, Peggy MacKellar (Richard Preis), adental hygienist of Lake Placid, NY, and Bruce MacKellar (Kristine Davidsen), a family physician of Hornell, NY. They have five grandchildren: Shane (Jessica) MacKellar of Plattsburgh, NY, Gavin MacKellar of Canton NY, Katherine MacKellar Hart (John) of Wallingford CT, Marie MacKellar of Middletown CT, and Kelsey MacKellar ofRochester NY. He was predeceased by his brother, Donald Gordon MacKellar of Chester, MD, and survived by his sister Jean MacKellar Mortensen (Carl) of Beacon, NY, nephews Donald G. MacKellar, Jr., of [Annapolis, MD], Alan Mortensen of Reno, NV, Brian Mortensen of Rhinebeck, NY, and Daniel Mortensen of Hyde Park, NY, and a niece, Nancy MacKellar Silvester of Chester, MD, and one cousin, David Cornelius of Ithaca, NY.He was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry on May 29, 1955. He served as Pastor of Presbyterian churches in Dryden, NY; Waverly, NY; Stirling, NJ; and Lyons Falls, NY, and as Interim Pastor of the East Craftsbury, VT, Presbyterian Church. In 1970 he was elected Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Newton (NJ). In 1975 he was elected Stated Clerk of the Synod of the Northeast, which office he held until he retired in 1996. He served on many committees and councils of the Presbyteries of Cayuga-Syracuse, Binghamton, Newton, Utica, and Northern NewEngland and the Synods of New York, New Jersey and the Northeast. He became a Registered Parliamentarian and was recognized as a dependable advisor on parliamentary procedure.He served six years on the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the denomination's ecclesiastical supreme court. Then he served six years on the General Assembly 's Advisory Committee on the (Church's) Constitution, four of those years as its moderator. In 2004 he was the second person to receive the Constitutional Service Award. He had a life-long interest in inter-church relations, and served as President of the Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society and chaired ministerial associations in Tompkins County, NY, the Waverly area, Watchung Hills NJ, and Lewis County, NY. He represented the Presbyterian Church on the Board of the New Jersey Council of Churches and the Church Plan Association for the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut Metropolitan Area.For 20 years he was active as volunteer counselor and director of church camp programs for teenagers. He believed that service to the community was an important part of his ministry. He was a 14-gallon blood donor and served on the boards of Red Cross chapters in Waverly, NY, Summit Area, NJ, and Newport, VT. Following the example of his parents, he was active in first aid squads, was a charter member and first Captain of the Township ofPassaic First Aid Squad (now the Long Hill First Aid Squad). He was Moderator of the Town of Newport, VT, 1993- 2002. Over a thirty-year period his wife and he raised nineteen guide dog puppies for The Seeing Eye. From his childhood in the Kingston, PA, Presbyterian Church, choral music was important to his spiritual life and ministry. He loved to sing hymns and encouraged his congregations to sing. He sang in choirs and community choral groups, often as tenor soloist. He was a member of the Princeton Theological Seminary touring choir for a year and a half, and with that choir sang for many military and mission installations in Korea and Japan for two months in 1953. In the past [25] years he sang with Northsong and some years with the Northeast Kingdom Chorus. He liked the verse of "What Wondrous Love Is This" that says,And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on.And when from death I'm free, I'll sing and joyful be,And through eternity I'll sing on, I'll sing on."A memorial service will be held in the East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church on May 6th at 11:00AM. In lieu of flowers memorial gifts may be sent to the Church at 1097 Ketchum Hill Rd., Craftsbury, VT 05826, or to The Seeing Eye, P.O. Box 375 Morristown, NJ 07963Online condolences may be made at www.curtis-britch.comArrangements are entrusted to the care of the Curtis-Britch-Converse-Rushford Funeral Home, locally family owned and operated.