County Habitat for Humanity Co-Founder Remembered for Selfless Contributions

SOUTH SEAVILLE – A Celebration of Life was held Aug. 20 for James A. “Jim” Sorenson, one of the founders of Habitat for Humanity Cape May County. Sorenson, 82, died Aug. 16, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year.
He had been a county resident for the past 30 years, having served as a Lutheran minister specializing as a mission developer and leaving three churches as his legacy.
His stewardship continued, serving as president of the congregation at Messiah Lutheran Church, Ocean View. His passion was Habitat for Humanity, of which he co-founded the Cape May County chapter, and he served as its first board president and part-time coordinator for many years.
“We belonged to the same social ministry,” recalled Joanne Ireland, another founding member of the Habitat for Humanity Cape May County affiliate. “We thought Cape May County could use a Habitat chapter so we reached out to get a speaker for our congregation. We were told that the Baptist Church in Court House already had a speaker lined up; they also had seen a need. So after we all heard the speaker, we decided to start a chapter here.
“It took a couple of years to become an official affiliate,” noted Ireland, who currently serves as vice president of the county’s Habitat board of trustees, “because we had to get volunteers lined up, vendors, get everything in place.
“Our vision was to build homes for those who didn’t have the means by themselves,” she noted. “We thought we might be able to build one house a year. Now, we’ve expanded over the years and are building two houses a year. However, it’s nowhere near what the need is.”
The first house was a modular home in Whitesboro built in the 1990s. Sorenson served as a part-time coordinator for Habitat for about a decade, handling “everything,” according to Shawn Lockyear, present Habitat for Humanity Cape May County full-time executive director.
“He was a doer,” Lockyear noted as she remembered Sorenson.
“He coordinated everything…..he got the mail, deposited the checks, answered the phone, ordered all the construction materials, he even got the donuts for the construction crew every workday. If there had been a ‘Jim cam’ on his white truck, the video would have been dizzy from the volume of trips he ran for Habitat on any given day.”
Lockyear also noted “Jim was a charmer. He handled so many of our relationships because it seemed that people couldn’t resist him when he called or stopped by asking for a discount or special consideration for Habitat.”
As a retired Lutheran minister, Sorenson also “kept the group grounded in Christian values. He always ensured that we worked to maintain our identity as a Christian ministry,” Lockyear said, “and honored Christian values in our activities. He often led our work group in prayer at the start of a work day.”
Sorenson also was Lockyear’s chief advisor during the six years that she’s served as chapter executive director.
“There wasn’t an important decision made regarding Habitat that we didn’t talk through together, and that wasn’t made better through his input. When I was hired, he told me that he wanted me to be successful, and he asked what he could do to help me. There wasn’t a day that I didn’t speak with him.”
Lockyear helped the organization move from building modular homes to stick-built homes, or building homes from the ground-up. “By building stick homes, we built that grass roots support with volunteers,” Lockyear explained. “We became that real Habitat affiliate where the people are a part of it.”
Richard “Mac” MacCarsey, a retired county facilities employee who is a Habitat volunteer, biked from his home in North Cape May to Sorenson’s service in Ocean View. “I only knew him a few years, but he was a really nice man,” MacCarsey said. “I would help him take things to the dump, help load his truck. He was very easy-going, and it was all about helping Habitat.”
Another Habitat volunteer, Dave Calvert, knew Sorenson about 10 years. “Jim was always available for everyone, no matter what the day or time was. Even a week before he passed, he called me and asked me if he could help me with some Habitat things I was doing. He was very selfless; one of the kindest guys I knew. He even took in some families when the hurricanes hit our area.”
Calvert is a retired teacher from Middle Township Middle School.
Lockyear said Sorenson also was the liaison for Habitat families, developing strong relationships with each of them.
Five homeowners attended his service, including Habitat’s first homeowner, Louisa Lopez and her daughter Miriam, also a Habitat homeowner. 
“I will miss him so much,” Lopez said of her friend of 20 years. “He always put everyone else first. He would remind me to pay the mortgage, help me when the air conditioning wasn’t working; he was always there for me. He was a perfect gentleman and was always very special to me and my family. He and his wife were wonderful; he just wanted to make sure everyone was happy.”
Marielis Tiru became a Habitat homeowner in 2012. Her home was the first stick-built home in seven years. “Jim will be remembered by my family for the loving heart and kind man that he was,” she said as she recalled him in a Facebook post.
“Jim really touched our lives, with his wife Joan, and was always present when something was needed for the home or pretty much anything that we had to do in and out of work hours for Habitat,” Tiru added.
“It’s going to be hard without Jim,” Lockyear admitted, “but we are just going to keep doing what we need to do. His spirit is what we will really miss. It’s such a great loss not to have him here anymore. He was quite an amazing man who touched many lives. But we will keep his spirit going.”
Sorenson is survived by his wife of 29 years, Joan; six children, two siblings, 15 grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Donations may be made in his name to Habitat for Humanity Cape May County, 4 Moore Road – DN 3020, Cape May Court House or to the Messiah Lutheran Church, Cape May Court House.
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.