Reverend Doctor Joseph Stephen Donchez went home to be with the Lord this Friday past, October 3, 2014 after a brief illness. Rev. Donchez was Senior Pastor at the First Presbyterian Church on Landis Avenue at Eighth Street in Vineland from 1964 through 1985. He also was co-owner of American Transport Systems of Vineland. Rev. Donchez was born on August 14, 1930 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1948, after which he joined the U.S. Army upon the death of his mother. In 1950, he met and married the love of his life, Linda (Atiyeh) Donchez, and they were married for the past 64 years, having four children. Rev. Donchez was stationed at Fort Monmouth, NJ, and was honorably discharged from the service upon his marriage to Linda on March 25, 1950. He graduated Magna cum Laude from Muhlenberg College of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and completed his post-graduate doctoral studies at Princeton Theological Seminary of Princeton, New Jersey, where he earned his Doctorate in Divinity. Rev. Donchez' was ordained as a Minister of the United Presbyterian Church in the USA, and was a member of West Jersey Presbytery. His first church was as Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Weatherly, Pennsylvania, and then onward to Bethany Prebyterian Church of Johnstown, Pennsylvania through 1963. In January of 1964, Donchez moved his family to Vineland, New Jersey, as he had accepted the position of Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Vineland, where he would remain for the next twenty years. His remarkable and active ministry saw the church membership rise to over 900 members, and was the second largest Protestant congregation in the city of Vineland. Donchez established the Community Migrant Ministry, which ministered to the seasonal workers who would come to work the area's farms. He established the Vineland Ministerium, which included members of the clergy, priests, and local rabbi's into a single organization that worked for the benefit of all in the city. He also instituted the first Parish Priests for the City of Vineland Police Department, and implemented a "graveyard shift ride-along" with local police officers during the 1960's and 1970's. He established the Community Lenten Luncheons during the Season of Lent, and also the Good Friday Services that would host for four (4) hours on Good Friday many members of the Vineland Clergy. He also established the "Migrant House" in Vineland, which would house and feed single men who would come to Vineland from time to time as field workers. He established Sunday Church services for the residents of the Vineland State School, the Training School, and also the Vineland State Colony. He also was active with placing Cuban exiles into jobs in the city, as they had fled Cuba during that islands takeover by the Castro regime. Rev. Dr. Donchez was also very active in the The Salvation Army, and formed the first Advisory Board of the Salvation Army of Vineland, serving Millville and Port Norris, which still is very active to this day. Rev. Donchez received the prestigious "OTHERS" award from the Salvation Army, of which very few were ever handed out. The "OTHERS" award recognized Rev. Donchez for over 50 years of service in the work of the Lord. Rev. Donchez answered the call to serve as Dean of Development for Boggs Academy, in Keysville, Georgia in 1985, where he worked for several years, as administrator and fund raiser for this Christian academic and lifestyle preparatory academy, which was sponsored by the United Presbyterian Church in the USA. Donchez returned to Vineland to form American Transport Systems with his wife Linda, which was established in 1983, remains under family ownership and management and thrives to this day with a presence in most of the lower 48 States, and parts of Canada and Mexico. ATS is headquartered in the Vineland Industrial Park. Rev. Dr. Donchez was preceded in death by his father and mother, Charles and Anna (Czasra) Doncsecz of Bethlehem, PA (who had emigrated to this country from Prekmurje in what is now present day Slovenia), brothers Charles, Frank, and Billy Doncsecz, all of Bethlehem, PA, and sisters Mary, Helen and Annie, formerly of Bethlehem, PA. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Linda (Atiyeh) Donchez, and his sister Dorothy Shively of Wooster, Ohio. He is also survived by sons Jeffrey and Lauren (King) Donchez of Edmonds, Washington, Stephen Donchez of Millville, NJ, Christian and Marie Donchez of Chadds Ford, PA and Aurelio and Jane (Donchez) Alfaro of Bear, Delaware. Also surviving Rev. Donchez are numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews throughout the United States, with notable presence in the states of Pennsylvania, Washington, Texas and California. Christian services will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Vineland, Landis Avenue at Eighth Street on Wednesday, October 8, with a viewing at the church from 11am-1pm, followed by a funeral service at 1pm. Family and friends may gather immediately afterwards at Marciano's Restaurant on N. Delsea Drive, Vineland. A private burial will take place at Cedar Hill Cemetery, Allentown, Pennsylvania at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made is his name to either The First Presbyterian Church 800 E. Landis Ave. Vineland, NJ 08360 or The Salvation Army/Vineland Corps. 733 E. Chestnut Ave. Vineland, NJ 08360 Please visit wbfuneralhome.com to send online condolences to the family. Arrangements are entrusted to Wainwright-Bernhardt Funeral Home, Vineland. "For by Grace you have been saved through Faith; and this is a gift from God, and is not of your works, lest any man should boast." -Ephesians 2:8 (RSV)