Donna Holmes Hart embraces a friend at her son, Jim's funeral, Saturday, April 12, 2014. (Staff Photo by Calista Condo/South Jersey Times)

Funeral for Mantua's James Hart who died in Cambodia draws hundreds

Phil Davis/South Jersey Times | April 12, 2014

MANTUA TWP.— The tall archways inside the Church of Incarnation boomed with stories on Saturday morning of an ambitious man who died doing what he loved, as hundreds of people from across the globe came to the church for 29-year-old James Hart’s funeral.

Hart, a Mantua Township native, was known simply as “Jim” to the gathering who called him their friend. The 29-year-old died on March 30 due to an unknown illness he contracted while traveling in southeast Asia, visiting Siem Reap, Cambodia.

A 2002 Clearview High School graduate, Hart had become a prolific traveler in recent years, selling most of his possessions and traveling to Europe and Asia beginning in 2013.

When news broke of his sudden death on March 30, his family began receiving messages from people around the world sending their condolences to his family.

At the Mantua Township church on Saturday, it was clear Hart had left an impact on many lives across the globe, as hundreds filed into the church to not only grieve with the Hart family, but to reflect with friends on their time spent with Hart.

Inside the church, those in attendance stood in a line that went all the way outside the building, passing by photo collages that showed Hart through various stages of his life.

The soft light of the mid-morning sun peered through the windows of the church and onto the faces of all those who knew Hart. It illuminated the varying emotions of the people Hart met throughout his travels — some laughing as they reminisced, others crying as they embraced Hart’s father, Donnie Sr., his younger brother Donnie Jr., his mother Donna and his sister Brooke. 

A group of Hart’s closest friends gathered outside of the church, all wearing suits and ties and thinking about what life would be like without “Jim.”

Tim Hartgenarder, a Turnersville resident who said he met Hart about eight years ago, said in his close group of six or seven friends, “he was our leader.”

“Whenever he would come home, we would drop everything (to go see) him,” said the Turnersville resident.

We’re all supposed to be smiling (here) because that’s what he would’ve wanted.

He, along with fellow friends Jeff Swain and Brian Foster, only spoke glowingly of Hart’s life.

They all talked about his outgoing personality, with Swain saying, “He was like a magnet. He’d talk to anybody — 8 (years old) to 80.”

Hartgenarder said he and Hart “clicked right away,” texting each other every day whether it be about troubles with his girlfriend or just to talk about their days.

He said no matter what the topic, Hart also had a sunny disposition.

“That was his trademark,” he added. “We’re all supposed to be smiling (here) because that’s what he would’ve wanted.”

“I remember what I said right before he left for Thailand, it was the last time I talked to him. I texted him ‘I love you’ and he texted me back ‘I love you, too.’ I told him ‘I’ll see you in the summer.’”

While the two never got to meet after his trip over to Asia, he said in the wake of Hart's death, the group has “been closer since it happened.”

“He’s still kind of our leader,” said Hartgenarder. “He brought us all here.”

On the backsides of the benches that lined the church were copies of a Christian religious text, which contained various seasonal songs and Christian scriptures, called “Breaking Bread”.

As those in attendance sat down and discussed James’ life with people they may otherwise have never met, it seemed as if they would be "breaking bread" on what would’ve otherwise been a lazy Saturday morning in April.