I received with mixed feelings the news that ‘Kit’ Packer, widow of J I (Jim) Packer, had passed away on 12 November 2024. I was glad that she was now free of the messiness of this life and was receiving the fullness of life the Lord had in store for her in His presence. I was sad that we would not be able to visit with her again this side of heaven. Bernice and I were planning to visit Vancouver next year and of course we wanted to visit with Kit and see how she was with life after ‘Jim’. Now that will have to wait.
Jim and Kit came from an era where the man’s main engagement was with the world while the wife’s main responsibilities were home and family. I suspect that, today, spouses like Kit could have been scholars in their own right. Indeed, we know of many couples where both husband and wife are fully engaged in scholarship and ministry. But Jim and Kit became husband and wife from an earlier era.
What this means is that we know that Jim could do what he did because Kit did what she did. I don’t think it would be wrong to say that Jim’s books were authored by Kit and Jim. Leland Ryken’s biography of J I Packer points out how the two complemented each other:
Wendy Zoba describes her as someone “…who possessed all those qualities that [Packer], in his bookish way, seemed to lack. She was practical, relational, lively, and independent. Kit feels comfortable in challenging Packer’s ideas and debating them.” (1)
Visits to Jim were of course visits to Jim and Kit. Never did we get the impression that Kit was any less a thinker then Jim. She held her own in any discussion and often gave Jim suggestions that helped his work. And they were both very kind to us.
We have so many warm memories of our visits with Jim and Kit. We were looking forward to seeing Kit again. We will have to wait a little longer.
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(1) Leland Ryken, J.I Packer (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015), 82.