Jim died April 23, 2021, in Missoula, Montana. He was born November 26, 1937, in Burlington, Iowa. Jim graduated from Iowa State with a degree in landscape architecture and was hired by the Forest Service. He lived and worked in Colorado, learned to ski and used his architecture skills to develop a ski area. Jim survived an avalanche at Breckenridge that was later written up in "Reader's Digest."

He was promoted in the Forest Service and returned to Missoula in 1986 with a position of regional director of planning. Jim retired in 1994 after a 35-year career and enjoyed hunting, skiing and biking in Montana and Arizona. He jumped at Missoula during the 1957-58 seasons.