Jim died August 15, 2016, in Redmond, Oregon. He was born in Livingston, Montana, March 25, 1923. Jim joined the 101st Airborne Division during WWII and got his first combat jump during Operation Market Garden on his 21st birthday. He was later wounded during the Battle of the Bulge.

After the war he joined the smokejumper unit at North Cascades and started his career with the USFS. Jim moved to Cave Junction in 1953 where he was in charge of the Siskiyou Smokejumpers. Fourteen years later, Jim took the position to manage the Redmond Air Center and retired from there in 1976.
None of the jumpers, who worked with and for Jim at Cave Junction, will forget the respect we had for him and the base.