Jim died January 12, 2005, of cancer. After graduating from Boise High School in 1950, he served three years as a sonar man in the Navy. Upon his return from the service, he attended and graduated from Idaho State University and jumped at McCall from 1954-1957.

Jim graduated from the Creighton University School of Dentistry in 1961 and moved to Bisbee, Arizona, where he set up his practice. He returned to Boise in 1969 and established the Northview Dental Center retiring in 2002.