Saying goodbye to Jim

Died 10/23/2006 in Palmer Alaska

Jim died the morning of October 23 while having morning coffee with his wife Kenda. He was healthy, worked out 5 days a week and did most of the things that lead to a very long life. Maybe God needed an Internet expert.

Over the past years, Jim and I had grown even closer. Talking three times or more each day. Attending Internet conferences and drinking a beer or two. We were scheduled to spend next week in Vegas at the Pubcon, Webmaster Conference. I was really looking forward to the week with Jim.

Last March Jim decided we needed to through caution to the wind and do every adventure in Alaska. We won permits to camp in a grizzly preserve. Each year only 200 in 50,000 entries ever get picked. Jim got us in on the first try. The sky was blue all but one day of our adventure. Not an Alaskan norm.

That was only the start of a summer that I will never forget and will think of daily. We spent time camping with the bears, flying into very remote spots via float plane and taking thousands of pictures.

Jim was able to take his wife and 8 year old son to remote lodge to fly fish for several days. I have put pictures of the event and others of Jim on a website I built for him. It is http://www.wawona.us . Wawona is where Jim and I lived before Parker. It is a small village in Yosemite.

Jim was a member of the local search and rescue group. They helped us arrange a memorial and get together. Even though he had only lived in Alaska a year and a half, over 100 people showed up at this house. He had found his home.

The memorial was simple. Held at Hatcher Pass, Jim's favorite park to snow shoe, ski and walk this dogs. It was only 10 miles from his home and offered views of all of the valley below.

With Glaciers and mountains of the Alaskan Range as the foreground, I took Jim's ashes out into the rocks and spread them into the wind using his gold pan. In the background kids were snow boarding and sledding the hills. A juvenile Bald Eagle few down the canyon over us, off into the Alaska Jim loved.

I will miss him always.

Ed

carl@chapman.tv